


All The Small Things

by RisemboolRanger



Series: All The Small Things series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Friendship, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-01
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-20 00:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 89,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/579113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisemboolRanger/pseuds/RisemboolRanger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's gotta be tough starting at Hogwarts just in time for OWLs, but when Tee and Rose befriend the school's best pranksters, it turns out to be better than expected. A year from the twins' perspective. You don't have to be the Chosen One to know how to find trouble at Hogwarts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sorting

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to just add a note about this story before people start reading. I started this as a gift fic way back in 2007 when my best friend wasn’t very well. Because it was so long ago my writing style wasn’t as good as it could be, but I love our characters in this and had so much fun with the storyline that I’d wanted to still upload it here and try to continue it.
> 
> I felt like going back through and revamping the whole thing, but in the end I decided to just keep it how it is (besides a few minor tweaks here and there). This way it’s just a good example to show how much my writing style has improved over the last several years! Obviously the newer chapters I add are going to be written a little differently, so if there are noticeably different styles towards the later chapters then you know why!
> 
> Tee Carroll belongs to me and Rose Cason belongs to my friend.

It was a warm morning in early September and Platform 9 ¾ was crowded with students ready to go and start the year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Feeling just as nervous as the new first years were two teenage girls. Although they were going to be joining Hogwarts as fifth years, this was their first year at the school. It wasn’t often that students were transferred in so many years late but the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had made an exception.

None of the other students knew any of this, but they could see that these two girls were new and were curious as to why they were starting at Hogwarts so late.

“Tee, everyone’s staring at us,” the taller girl said nervously. She had waves of brown hair that reached down towards her waist. Her eyes were frosty blue and her pale skin was broken by a light spray of freckles across the bridge of her nose. 

“Don’t worry, Rose. It’s because we’re just so damn popular,” joked Tee. In contrast to her much more graceful friend, Tee's hair was short and cut in an asymmetrical style with a long side fringe that was constantly falling across her face. She often dyed her hair, so it was currently a dark shade of red. She wore a pair of tiny frameless glasses.

Rose smiled. Tee always tried to cheer her up.

“Just ignore them,” Tee reassured. She glanced over Rose’s shoulder. “Oooh, check it out. Fittie at two o’clock!”

“Where?” Rose turned around. She spotted the guy Tee was watching just as he properly turned towards them, revealing the cigarette in his hand.

“Yuck, smoker... Forget it.” Tee made a face.

“Just not hot at all then now?” laughed Rose. She knew how much Tee hated smoking. She didn’t like it much herself, but she wasn't quite as outspoken about it. That was usually the case between them.

Tee shook her head violently. “Kissing someone who smokes would be like licking the inside of an exhaust pipe.”

As soon as she said it she realised she’d said it too loud. Firstly for the fact that the boy gave her a dirty look, and also because she heard an appreciative laugh from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and the guy who was stood there smiled at her. She returned the smile before turning back to Rose.

“I think you’ve made a friend,” laughed Rose.

“And possibly an enemy as well.” Tee inclined her head towards the smoker, who was still watching them. “Let’s move away a bit.” She glanced back over her shoulder again, but her apparent ‘friend’ had already disappeared into the crowd.

Just as they were shuffling away, the train rolled into the platform and hissed to a stop. Eager to avoid the throng of people getting on, Tee and Rose hurried to the door so that they could try and beat the crowds. When they were safely on board, they quickly found themselves an empty carriage. Tee happily sat down but Rose remained standing.

“I’m gonna go find the toilets,” she told her friend.

“Are you alright?” asked Tee, concerned. Rose looked even whiter than usual.

“Yeah, just... the pill’s kicking in,” Rose explained.

Tee nodded understandingly. “You want me to go with you?”

“No, it’s okay. Just save me a seat,” Rose smiled.

Tee smiled back sympathetically. “Okay.”

As Rose left the carriage, Tee stretched herself out and lay down across the three seats. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and fixed her headphones in. She knew that electronic devices that Muggles used didn’t work at Hogwarts, so she wanted to make the most of her music while she could.

After about ten minutes, Rose still hadn’t come back. Though she still worried, Tee knew that Rose's medication often made her nauseous. She wasn't overly concerned by her friend's absence just yet. No more than usual anyway.

If she’d noticed the carriage door slide open, she’d have thought it was Rose returning. It was, in fact, the guy she’d seen earlier. Well, actually there were two of them. Tee didn’t notice until one of them took the iPod out of her hands.

She looked up in surprise and quickly pulled herself round into a sitting position, ready to demand her possession back. But he simply sat down next to her and started flicking through her music. His twin then sat down on her other side, pulled one of her earphones out and put it in his own ear.

“Let’s see what you’re listening to then,” he said.

Tee watched, bemused, the need to respond defensively quickly vanishing. These two obviously didn’t have any confidence issues. She realised now that one of them was the guy she’d seen on the platform.

“Guessing you guys must be Muggle-born?” she said, figuring they’d have to have lived around Muggles to be familiar with iPods.

“No, our family’s pure blood,” said one of them.

“But our dad’s obsessed with Muggles,” added his twin.

“Always messing around with Muggle stuff.”

“Can be quite useful sometimes.”

“But it drives Mum nuts.”

The twins knew that it usually disconcerted people when they finished each other’s sentences, so they sometimes did it on purpose. Tee, however, found it more amusing than anything, though it did make her feel a little like she was watching a tennis match.

She couldn’t help smiling. “Cute... So are you gonna tell me your names, seeing as you've just invaded my personal space and all?”

“I’m Fred,” said the twin who was currently sharing her earphones.

“And I’m George,” said the one holding her iPod.

“Or am I George?”

“And I’m Fred?”

Tee hesitated. It wasn't difficult to confuse her at the best of times. A pair of twins trying to mess with her head didn’t exactly help. “Okay... Why don’t you tell me the truth about your names now and I’ll just remember that for later?”

“You won’t be able to tell us apart.”

“Even our own mother can’t.”

Tee grinned. “Try me. My oldest cousin has twins, so I’m quite good at this kind of thing.”

The twins looked at one another. “Okay. We were telling the truth the first time,” said the one with her iPod, who’d now revealed himself to be George.

“And if you’re so good, which of us did you see on the platform earlier?” asked Fred.

Tee looked from one to the other. She took just a few seconds to decide, then pointed to Fred and grinned.

Fred smiled but shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

Tee laughed. “Yeah, right. I bet I could tell the difference between you any time.”

Fred looked over at George. “You’re on!”

“What? You wanna make it a real bet?” asked Tee.

“Yeah, why not?” grinned George.

“What’s the conditions?” Tee asked warily.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. We can decide on that later,” answered Fred.

Tee shrugged. “Okay then.” She shook hands with both of them.

“So what house are you in?” enquired George.

“I’m not,” replied Tee shortly. “This is my first year.”

“I didn’t think I’d seen you before...” Fred thought aloud. “What’s your name?”

“Tee,” she answered.

“But you’re too old to be a first year,” George pointed out.

“Right. I’ll be in fifth,” Tee replied vaguely. It wasn't difficult to tell that she didn’t particularly want to explain more, so they didn’t press it any further.

“Same year as us,” Fred said instead.

The carriage door suddenly slid open again and they all looked around as Rose walked in. “Whoa... I’m more ill than I thought; I’m seeing double,” she joked, sitting down opposite them.

Happier now that her friend was back, Tee squeezed out from in between the twins, leaving them with her iPod, and moved across to sit next to Rose. Rose linked her arm through Tee’s – a habit of comfort she'd developed over the years they'd known each other.

“So are you two... related or something?” questioned George.

“Best friends,” Rose beamed.

“Yeah, this is Rose,” Tee introduced with a smile. “Rose, this is Fred and George.” She pointed to each of the twins.

“I'll attempt to remember which of you is which, but my head's a little fuzzy right now,” Rose smiled apologetically.

“We’ve already got a bet going that I’ll be able to tell the difference between them,” Tee grinned.

“Really? Ooh, good luck then, guys. Tee’s quite good at that game.”

The twins’ faces fell slightly. Tee grinned and stuck her tongue out at them.

They didn’t seem to have been chatting for much longer when then train suddenly started to slow down and pulled to a halt with a screech of its wheels. “We’re here already?” said Rose in surprise.

“Oh bugger, we haven’t even changed into our robes,” said Tee. The twins were already wearing theirs.

George was looking out of the window, trying to see what was going on. “We can’t be there yet!”

“Maybe the train’s broken down,” suggested Tee. No sooner had she said it, all the lights went out and the carriage rocked slightly as someone climbed aboard. “Oh... bugger,” she repeated.

Fred laughed nervously. “Whatever’s happened, they’ll fix it. There isn’t much magic can’t fix.”

The carriage rocked again. They could hear noises from outside their compartment. It sounded like someone was moving down the corridor outside.

Suddenly, the carriage door was flung open and someone burst into the compartment. The girls and the twins all jumped. By the pale moonlight falling in through the window, they could make him out to be a boy a year or so younger than them. He had floppy, platinum blonde hair. The twins seemed to recognise him.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” challenged George.

The boy, Malfoy, didn’t say anything. He stuttered a bit, plainly terrified, and ran straight back out again.

“Silly git.” Fred shook his head. “Probably scared of the dark.”

A dark shadow suddenly appeared outside the window of the sliding door. But it wasn’t Malfoy this time – it was something else entirely... The temperature of the air seemed to have dropped dramatically. They could actually see spirals of frost creeping across the window.

“What is it?” Rose whispered.

“I dunno...” Tee started to say, but George cut across her.

“I think I might know,” he interrupted quietly. “Just stay still and keep quiet. Maybe it’ll go away...”

George was right. The four of them sat in complete silence, hardly daring to breathe, watching as the creature paused outside the door. After what seemed an agonisingly long time, it glided away along the train.

“What was that?” asked Tee, once she felt free to talk again.

“I think... I think it was a dementor,” replied George. Fred nodded – he’d obviously guessed it as well. “They’re the guards of Azkaban.”

“Dunno why there’s one here though...” said Fred thoughtfully.

“Did you feel how cold it went?” Rose rubbed her arms. They were covered in goosebumps. It was still quite chilly, even now the dementor had moved on.

“Well that’s what they do, don’t they? Dementors, they sort of... drain the happiness away,” said George.

Tee gave Rose a slight nudge. “Are you alright?” she asked quietly, now desperately wishing they could talk more privately.

Rose started to reply in an undertone when the lights suddenly flicked back on again. Though more relaxed now that the train was lit up again, they could all see just how scared each other was – the twins were both very pale and Tee’s eyes were fixed on the carriage door.

But, within moments, everything had returned to normal. The train was now back in motion and people were beginning to move freely up and down the corridors again.

“We’d better go change into our robes,” Tee said pointedly to Rose.

“Yeah, okay,” agreed Rose. She helped Tee to pull out their backpacks from the luggage rack, then turned to the twins. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

XXX

It was completely dark by the time the train arrived at Hogwarts. The majority of the students getting off the train seemed to be heading towards carriages that looked as though they were being pulled by invisible horses. The groups of first years were making their way towards a giant of a man, who was beckoning them over.

“Have you guys gotta go with the first years?” asked Fred.

Tee and Rose looked at one another blankly. They didn’t have a clue. Tee shrugged. “We weren’t told.”

But they were saved from their confusion by the giant man appearing at their side. By the light of the lantern he was carrying, they could see how wild he looked. His head and face were hidden behind tangles of dark hair. He was easily several feet taller than everyone else. Yet his beetle black eyes were twinkling and warm – implying that he was, to put it literally, a big friendly giant.

“I’m guessin’ you two are the new fifth years?”

The girls both nodded. Rose couldn’t help smiling to herself. She knew Tee was quite touchy about her height - now she looked completely comical standing next to this huge man.

“Dumbledore’s told me all about yeh. I’m Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper,” the giant introduced proudly. He then spotted the twins. “Yeh alrigh’, Fred? George? Hopefully yeh won’t be givin’ me any hassle this year?”

Fred and George both put on their best innocent faces. “Of course not!” said Fred.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” added George.

Tee and Rose exchanged amused looks. They’d only known the twins for a few hours, but could easily see through their innocent act. And from the looks of it, Hagrid could too. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the girls. “Come on then, yeh need to come with me an’ the firs’ years so yeh can get Sorted.”

They nodded again and said their goodbyes to the twins.

“Hopefully we’ll see you at the Gryffindor table.” Fred winked at them.

Tee and Rose followed Hagrid, amongst the small first years, over to the vast dark lake where lots of rowing boats were waiting for them. They both climbed into one of them with a pair of tiny first year girls.

Whereas it had been warm on the platform earlier in the afternoon, it was very cold out on the lake. Tee and Rose didn’t care that much – they’d started racing the other boats, knowing they had an obvious advantage by being several years older than everyone else. The castle loomed up above them as they crossed the lake as fast as they could.

They easily reached the other side before anyone else. The two first years stumbled out of the boat, glad to be back on the ground. They obviously hadn’t approved of racing across the lake at top speed. Tee and Rose found this very funny and were still giggling by the time all of the other first years had joined them on the bank.

Once Hagrid rejoined them, now rather wet, as the tiny boats didn’t carry his weight very well, he started leading them up to the castle.

“So yeh’ve made friends with the Weasley twins?” he made conversation as they were walking.

“Err, yeah,” replied Tee. The twins hadn’t told them their surname, but Hagrid could hardly be talking about anyone else.

“Pair of ruddy troublemakers, they are,” grunted Hagrid. “Spent half me life chasin’ ‘em away from the Forbidden Forest. Good souls though. All the Weasleys are a good lot. Well, here we are, everyone!” They’d arrived at the front doors to the castle. “Welcome to Hogwarts!”

Once they were inside, Hagrid passed them onto a stern-looking woman with hair tied back into a tight bun. Hagrid waved goodbye and disappeared through a door to their right. The woman introduced herself to them as Professor McGonagall, deputy headmaster and head of Gryffindor house. She took them through the door that Hagrid had gone through and they found themselves in the Great Hall.

They had to line up behind the first years, whilst Professor McGonagall read their names off a list alphabetically. When they were called, each student had to come up to the front and try on the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat was a frayed hat, sitting on a stool in front of the teachers' table. It proceeded to sing a song to the whole hall, explaining that it would decide for each student which house they’d be in.

Normally, all of the other students would be most interested in watching the first years being Sorted. But this time, they were more curious about who these two new, much older girls were and why they hadn’t been attending Hogwarts until now.

“Now this is embarrassing,” Rose muttered in Tee’s ear.

Tee didn’t disagree. It was quite uncomfortable having everyone’s eyes on you. Though she was often quite happy being at the centre of attention, this wasn't one of those occasions. Still, she attempted to pass her discomfort off with her usual humour. “Now I feel _really_ popular!” she whispered back.

They watched the first years dwindling down as they were Sorted into their houses. They were starting to get more and more nervous as they waited for their names to be called.

“I always heard a load of bad things about Slytherin... But now I know I definitely don’t wanna join them,” said Tee. “Look what a happy bunch they are.”

Rose looked over at the Slytherin table and stifled a laugh. Every person sat there was completely stone-faced. They didn’t even look particularly overjoyed when a few of the first years were sorted into their house.

“Do you reckon we’re in alphabetical order with the first years or will we be called after everyone else has been Sorted?” asked Tee, as ‘Cadge, Nathaniel’ joined the Ravenclaw table.

But before Rose could hazard a guess, Professor McGonagall had called out “Carroll, Tia.”

“There’s your answer,” whispered Rose. “Good luck!”

“Oh bugger...” Tee rolled her eyes. “Here goes...”

She made her way over to the stand, sat down and pulled the hat down over her head to try and drown out the murmurs from the other students. Her heartbeat was going a mile a minute. She then that any house would be okay as long as she wasn't Sorted into Slytherin, but she still found herself hoping towards...

“Gryffindor!”

Tee pulled the hat off with a big grin, practically bouncing up off the tiny stool. She'd done it! She looked over at the Gryffindor table and could see Fred and George waving to get her attention. She hurried over to them as they shuffled up to make more room along the bench, both grinning. They each punched her on the shoulder as she sat down.

“Let’s just hope your friend’s in Gryffindor too,” said George.

“Oh God, I hope so!” Tee rubbed her shoulder with one hand and crossed her fingers tightly on the other.

“Cason, Rose,” Professor McGonagall called.

Tee gave Rose the thumbs up before she disappeared under the hat. She now felt even more nervous than she had with her own Sorting. But she needn't have worried, because the Sorting Hat had barely touched Rose’s head when it yelled...

“Gryffindor!”

“Yesss!” Tee punched the air happily.

Rose made her way over to the table, beaming. Tee made sure that Rose sat on her other side so that she wouldn’t suffer hits from the twins as well. “That was lucky...” breathed Rose.

“You’re telling me! I was more scared for you than I was for myself!” said Tee, patting her on the arm. She was about to say something else when she heard someone call her name from down the table. She waved to a small group of girls who were sat further down and mouthed ‘I’ll talk to you later.’

“Who...” Fred started, but broke off as the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, stood up.

Professor Dumbledore’s speech wasn’t long, so they were able to tuck into the food that had appeared along the four tables within minutes.

By the time the feast had finished, they were all happy and very full of food.

“So where do we have to go now?” asked Tee, as people were starting to file out of the Great Hall. She couldn’t really be bothered to move after how much she'd eaten.

“Up to the Gryffindor common room. Come on,” said Fred, giving her chair a helpful kick.

Tee and Rose both got up reluctantly and trailed after Fred and George out of the Great Hall. They followed the twins up flight after flight of stairs. Tee complained the whole way that she hadn't bargained for this. Up the fourth set, she fell through a trick stair, as Fred and George had conveniently ‘forgotten’ to warn her about it.

Finally, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. They gave her the password that they’d heard from a prefect downstairs and all clambered through the opening. They found themselves in the common room – a large, circular room filled with squashy armchairs and a warm, crackling fireplace.

There were already quite a lot of students in there and they all stared openly at Tee and Rose. But before any of them could so much as sit down, a group of girls had all suddenly converged on Tee. Rose started laughing as she realised who they were, whilst the twins watched in amusement. 

A girl with long brown hair gave Tee a big hug, then did the same to Rose. “I'm so chuffed; I can’t believe you both got into Gryffindor!”

Tee beamed around at the other girls as they all gave her hugs as well. “I know, it’s great! The Sorting Hat isn’t exactly fashionable though, is it? Do you reckon it suited me?”

There was an appreciative laugh. Rose was now getting her share of hugs too.

“Oi.” Fred gave Tee a poke, grinning. “You gonna introduce us?”

“Like you need introducing!” said one of the girls. She had dark skin and carefully styled, black hair. The group of girls had just started their fourth year. None of them had actually spoken to the twins before, but they all knew who they were. It wasn't surprising when most of the school did.

“Okay, we know we’re famous,” grinned Fred. “But who are all these friends of yours when you’ve only been here for an hour?”

Tee grinned back. “Well this is Sumayyah,” she pointed to the girl with black hair. “And this is Marie, Shabanga…”

“It’s not Shabanga!” protested the girl wearing a traditional headscarf.

Tee laughed. “Okay, sorry Shabana.” She then put her arm around the girl with brown hair who’d hugged her first. “And this is my sister, Kayley,” she said proudly. “Doesn’t look like me at all, does she?”

The twins both shook their heads. The only similarity between them was the eyes and even they were different shades of brown.

“She looks more like your sister,” said George, pointing to Marie, who had short, layered black hair and top-framed glasses. She laughed.

“Everyone says that,” said Tee. “But yeah, that’s how I know this lot. They’re all in the fourth year.”

“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” Rose announced suddenly, in the first break between conversation that she could find. She’d been fighting back yawns for the last several minutes. “I’m shattered.”

“Bit early, isn’t it?” said Fred, raising his eyebrows.

“Not really,” Tee interrupted quickly, sparing Rose the suspicion. She turned to her friend. “I’ll come with you.”

“It’s okay,” Rose replied. “I can go by myself.”

“Oh... okay.” Tee bit her lip. She felt guilty. She’d probably been more protective of Rose than she’d realised.

Rose clearly knew what she was thinking. “Don’t worry, Tee. You can shepherd me around as much as you like tomorrow.”

Tee grinned. “Okay, it’s a deal.” She gave Rose a big hug. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight!” Rose said to Tee and the twins. Kayley and her friends helpfully showed Rose the way up to the girls' dormitories.

As other people had been disappearing up to their beds over the last few minutes, the common room was suddenly a lot emptier. A small group of third years were sat in the far corner, already breaking out a set of Wizard's Chess. Tee sank into one of the empty armchairs by the fire.

“What was all that about?” asked Fred, as he and George sat down in two seats opposite.

Tee sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Rose has got leukaemia...” She stared down at the floor, rather than looking at the twins. Even now, it was still hard to think about.

“What... What’s that?” asked George, though he could tell it was something bad.

“Cancer,” said Tee sadly, looking up. “Blood cancer.”

“So that’s why...” Fred started.

“Why we’ve started Hogwarts this year, yeah,” Tee finished for him. “She couldn’t start until her hospital appointments had spread out more. And I didn’t want to start here and leave her for months at a time. Thankfully, Dumbledore had no problems with us starting this late.”

“But how are you gonna know all the stuff from the last four years?” questioned Fred. “I mean, we’re taking our OWLs this year... Aren't you?”

“Yeah, that’s why we started this year,” explained Tee. “Rose’s still not perfectly healthy, but we needed to start now to be able to take our OWLs. She’s well enough to come here, but she still has to take medication every day. We’ve been home schooled up until now.”

“I never knew they did home schooling for wizards and witches,” said George in surprise.

“They don’t normally,” admitted Tee. “But Professor Kettleburn, who used to teach Care of Magical Creatures here, lives just on the same road that Rose does. And he was able to connect us to some other people who could teach us on other subjects.”

“That’s pretty cool,” said Fred.

“They were a lot more easygoing then I expect most teachers are,” Tee agreed. She grinned. “Not as many rules. So it’s a shame I won’t get as much freedom here.”

“Get used to it,” laughed Fred. “We managed to.”

Tee laughed too. “So which teachers do I need to be especially careful with?”

“Well, McGonagall for a starter,” said George. "She's a good head of house, but she won't stand for any trouble."

“And Snape, the potions master,” added Fred darkly.

“Most of the others aren’t too bad actually,” said George.

“Yeah, the ones you can really get away with stuff are Flitwick, Trelawney, Hagrid...”

Fred and George continued to give Tee the low-down on teachers and lessons. By the time they’d run through them all, they were the only ones left in the common room.

“Okay, I am officially knackered,” announced Tee, pulling herself out of her chair with some effort. She was still feeling the weight of all of the food she'd consumed at the feast.

She laughed at George who was practically dozing off on Fred’s shoulder, having left Fred to do the talking for the last ten minutes. By now, Fred was also looking quite bleary-eyed.

“Come on, you two,” she said, throwing a pillow at George, who grumbled and pushed it aside. “Surely your beds would be more comfy than down here.”

“It involves moving...” mumbled Fred. Tiredness had hit him the moment he’d stopped talking.

“Fine... You guys can stop here if you like, but I want my bed,” said Tee, making her way over to the staircase to the girls’ dormitories. “Good night!”

The twins made some virtually inaudible replies.


	2. First Day

The next morning, Rose was up and dressed before Tee was even awake. Eventually she threw a slipper at her to wake her up. Tee groaned and rolled over. “What’s the time?” she mumbled into her pillow.

“Time for you to get up,” answered Rose. “Because I’m bored and it’ll be time for breakfast in a bit.”

“Okay, okay,” said Tee, rolling back over and sitting up. She swung her legs round and got out. Breakfast was at least an incentive

The other girls in the dormitory were already awake and getting dressed themselves.

“What I wanna know...” said Tee, pulling her robes over her head. “Is how there were enough beds for us in this dormitory.”

“That’s because two of the girls left this year,” interrupted one of the girls, whose name was Katie Bell. “They used to be in this dormitory, so it meant there were two spare beds.”

“But that doesn’t explain how Dumbledore knew we were going to be in Gryffindor,” Tee pointed out. 

Katie didn’t know the answer either. “Yeah... He never misses a thing though.”

“So how come the other girls left in their fifth year?” asked Rose. “What about their OWLs?”

“They’re travelling around the world,” said Katie. “They’re following one of those international Quidditch teams. So they’re gonna take their OWLs abroad.”

“That’s pretty cool,” said Tee.

“Yeah,” agreed Katie. “I used to hang around with them; they were two of my best friends. They offered me a place to go with them, but my parents wanted me to stay at Hogwarts.” She made a face. 

“That sucks,” said Tee.

“I know... And it means we need to find some more Chasers for our Quidditch team now,” added Katie.

“There’s empty places on the team? Really?” asked Tee, suddenly excited. She never would have expected the opportunity to try out for the team when she was starting in her fifth year. She'd assumed the teams would have been solid by now.

“Yeah,” said Katie, amused by Tee’s reaction. “I take it you play?” Tee nodded enthusiastically. “You should apply then.”

“I will!” Tee insisted happily. They debated over Quidditch teams whilst they finished getting dressed.

“You all set?” Rose asked Tee, once she was ready.

“Yup!” said Tee. She bid Katie goodbye and followed Rose down to the common room. It was quite empty – most people seemed to have already gone down for breakfast. “We gonna go get some food then? I’m well hungry!”

Rose laughed. “You’re always hungry! Come on then."

Once they’d made their way down the many flights of stairs, they managed to find the Great Hall by following the stream of students that seemed to be coming from every direction but all heading through the same door. They shifted through the crowd of people and found themselves some seats at the Gryffindor table. They’d only just filled their plates when the twins suddenly appeared and sat down on either side of them.

“Morning!” they greeted brightly.

“By the way, you’ve got a question you need to be answering...” Fred said to Tee, as soon as they’d sat down.

“What?” asked Tee, slightly bewildered.

“Who’s who?” Fred indicated himself and George.

“Easy...” Tee grinned smugly. “Fred, George,” she said straightaway, pointing to each of them correctly without even having to pause to think.

Fred looked for a moment like he was slightly impressed, but managed to hide the expression. “Another lucky guess.”

Tee laughed “How many ‘lucky guesses’ do you reckon I’m gonna get then? You can’t just say that every time because you don’t want to admit I’m right.”

“Okay, get it right one more time and then I might start to believe you,” Fred grinned.

Tee shrugged, but grinned back. “Prepare to lose, Weasley... So did you guys make it up to bed in the end or did you sleep in the common room?”

“Nah, we went to bed,” replied George, pouring milk into a bowl of cereal.

“We didn’t have much choice. Peeves came into the common room and started throwing stuff at us,” said Fred ruefully. “The school’s poltergeist,” he added, seeing the confused looks on their faces.

“It was quite funny though actually,” George grinned. “Fred thought it would be a smart idea to start chucking everything back at him.”

“Which was working quite well...” Fred said, looking pointedly at George. “Until I accidentally lobbed someone’s hat into the fire.”

George laughed. “He spent the next few minutes trying to put it out and nearly caught his own robes on fire as well.”

“Then Peeves took it as a good opportunity to empty an ink well on my head,” added Fred, looking annoyed. “Look...” He turned his head. The back of his hair and neck were now stained with blue. Tee and Rose both giggled.

“It’ll be way too easy to tell you apart now,” laughed Tee. “You can at least give me a bit of a challenge.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” said Fred. “I am actually planning on washing it off.”

“Good to hear. So how did you manage to get rid of Peeves?”

“Said we’d tell the Bloody Baron on him,” said George. “He’s the Slytherin ghost and the only one who can control him. Threaten him with that and he’s more than likely to leave you alone.”

“We’d better remember that,” said Rose.

“Are there a lot of ghosts here?” asked Tee.

“There’s a fair few,” replied Fred. “Why?” He grinned. “Do ghosties scare you?”

Tee laughed. “Only the malevolent ones you get in horror movies that try and kill everyone. Rose has got one in her house, so she’s used to them.”

“I’ve never actually seen him though,” admitted Rose. “He just makes noises sometimes and enchants the cats.”

She was interrupted by two small first year girls making to sit down opposite, noticing her and Tee, then getting back up again and hurrying away. Tee, having realised who they were, choked on her glass of orange juice.

“What was that about?” asked Fred, bewildered, leaning forward over the table to try and see where the first years had gone.

“They had the luxury of sharing a boat with us on the way up to the castle,” replied Tee, after Rose had thumped her on the back.

Fred grinned. “What did you do, tip them out?”

“Nothing so crude,” said Tee, also grinning. “We just went a bit... fast for their liking.”

“Tee thought it would be a fun idea to race all the other boats to the castle,” laughed Rose. “I don’t think those girls agreed very much.”

The twins laughed too. As the conversation switched to the Sorting the night before, Tee remembered something.

“Hey, do you know when Gryffindor’s Quidditch tryouts are?” she asked the twins. In all her excitement about finding out that there were spaces on the team, she’d not thought to ask Katie when the tryouts were.

“Yeah, they’re on Friday evening,” said George. “Why? Are you gonna try for Chaser?”

Tee nodded. “I’m hoping to.”

“Really? Are you any good?” asked Fred.

Tee hesitated. “Err...”

“Yeah, she is,” Rose cut across. “She’s just a bit modest.” Tee smiled sheepishly, blushing slightly. “I used to watch her fly with her sister and her cousins.”

“What broom have you got?” enquired Fred.

“A Silver Arrow,” replied Tee.

“Aren’t they really old? Madam Hooch is always banging on about the one she used to have,” said George. 

“Yeah, they stopped making them years ago. This one used to be my Granddad’s,” Tee explained. “It’s in really good nick though. What have you guys got?”

“Cleansweep Fives,” said George.

“They’re not too bad... But we’re hoping to get some better ones soon,” added Fred.

“So are you both on the Quidditch team then?” asked Rose. She didn’t play Quidditch herself, but she enjoyed watching Tee play.

“Yeah, we’re the Beaters,” grinned Fred.

“Wow. Bet the Bludgers don’t stand a chance,” joked Tee.

There was an abrupt rush of feathers as flocks of owls suddenly streamed in through the windows, dropping letters and packages in front of their owners. Tee and Rose, who hadn’t experienced this before, were quite startled at first, but then settled back to watch all the different owls.

They were even more surprised, however, when two owls landed in front of them, carrying letters addressed to each of them. They both ripped open the letters and read them through quickly. Once they’d read them, they excitedly swapped the pieces of parchment to find out that they were pretty similar.

“What is it?” asked George, amused at the looks of excitement on their faces.

“Letters from our moms,” replied Rose, beaming. “Apparently they both agreed they should get us our own owls as a last minute surprise.”

“I can’t believe we get to keep them,” said Tee, gently stroking the small lightly coloured barn owl perched on the jug of pumpkin juice in front of her. It hooted softly. Tee scanned through her letter again. “It says he's a boy."

Rose glanced back at her own letter. “Mine’s a girl.” She beamed happily at the foot-tall snowy owl gazing back at her with eyes like liquid copper. 

They both cooed over the owls for the next ten minutes, as the twins watched in amusement at their obvious affection for animals. By the time they’d let the birds fly off to the Owlery, Rose had named the snowy owl Olwyn and Tee had called hers Oli.

Eventually, Rose looked at the time and then at her timetable, which they’d all been given the night before. “We’d probably better go. Transfiguration’s gonna start in about five minutes.”

“Really? We have Transfiguration first?” asked George, whilst Fred rummaged in his bag for his own timetable. Neither of them had even bothered to look at theirs.

Fred groaned when he saw that it was true. “What a lovely way to start the year.”

“Why? Is it boring?” said Tee.

“No, it’s interesting enough... But don’t think for a minute that it’ll be easy,” George warned.

“Plus you won’t get away with anything with McGonagall,” added Fred. “Transfiguration’s her subject.”

“All the more reason to get moving then,” advised Rose, putting her timetable away and getting to her feet.

Fred and George led them away from the Great Hall, up the first flight of stairs and along the corridor to their Transfiguration classroom. Most of the class seemed to be already waiting outside – they were obviously early.

“There’s a lot to remember, isn’t there?” said Rose, who’d noticed several other corridors and endless classrooms on just the first floor alone.

“Yeah, but it’s surprisingly easy to get used to,” reassured George, leaning against the wall.

“Then if you’re good girls, we might teach you some of the secret passageways,” grinned Fred.

“Because good girls are gonna use secret passageways?” smirked Tee.

“Well, my idea of ‘good’...” Fred winked at her.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall appeared next to the group of students gathering outside her classroom. Everyone had been so involved in conversation that nobody had even noticed her coming.

“Good morning, class,” Professor McGonagall greeted. “I’m glad to see you’re all on time. Now if you’d like to follow me inside and take your seats...”

“Come on.” George put a hand on both Tee and Rose’s shoulders. “If we’re quick, we can get some good seats.”

Tee and Rose hurried after him and Fred, who had already darted into the classroom. They managed to get four seats in the corner on the back row, far enough from Professor McGonagall to get away with whispered conversation if they’d really wanted to.

“Are we gonna have to rush for seats every lesson?” asked Rose, rubbing her knee. She’d banged it against one of the desks in her hurry.

“Nah, first day's are like a 'claim your seats' kinda thing,” explained George. 

Professor McGonagall, who was now stood beside her desk at the front of the classroom, cleared her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Now class, settle down. As you know, you will be taking your OWL examinations this year, so I hope you’re all prepared to be working hard...”

She launched into a lecture about the importance of the upcoming exams. Tee had already stopped paying attention and was now gazing past Rose and George and out of the window. She knew that OWLs were important. She didn’t need a lecture on it. She just wanted to get started on some practical work.

From their home schooling, they hadn’t been taught much practical work – mostly theory. Tee was eager to see how different lessons at Hogwarts would be. She looked at Rose, who was obviously thinking along the same lines, as she was doodling on the corner of her parchment. Next to Rose, George was absent-mindedly twirling his quill between his fingers and staring blankly at the back of the boy’s head in the seat in front.

Slumping back in her chair, Tee looked to Fred who was sat on her other side. He was gazing around the classroom, looking bored. But when he noticed Tee watching him, he grinned mischievously and winked at her. Tee found herself grinning back. His smile was quite infectious.

Thankfully, Professor McGonagall’s speech didn’t last much longer, because she was suddenly giving them instructions for the lesson.

“We’re going to be doing some work on Vanishing spells today,” she announced. “This is quite a bit more complex than what we’ve been doing before, so I don’t expect perfect results today.”

“At least we’ve got an excuse then,” Fred muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

“So to start with, I’d like you to turn to chapter three in your copies of ‘A Guide to Transfiguration’ and copy out the summary on what is needed to produce an effective Vanishing spell,” Professor McGonagall instructed. “Then I’ll be providing you each with teacups to practice on.”

The class didn’t protest; this actually sounded like quite a good lesson. For the first part, all they had to do was copy up notes, then when they did start the practical work they weren’t even expected to be able to manage the spell properly anyway.

Soon the room was full of nothing but the sound of quills scratching on parchment. They didn’t need to be told that Professor McGonagall expected note-taking to be managed without the need to talk. She made her way around the classroom whilst they were writing, making sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to be and not taking the potential difficulty of the spell as an excuse to slack off.

“Weasley!” she said suddenly when she reached the back of the room.

Both Fred and George jumped and turned round sharply. For once, they hadn’t been doing anything wrong.

“Not you...” Professor McGonagall waved her hand at George, who shrugged and turned back to face the front. Fred was left looking bewildered. “Weasley, what have you got on the back of your neck?”

“Ink, Professor,” replied Fred, like it was the most natural thing in the world to have ink on your neck and hair like a failed blue hair dye.

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows, but didn’t even bother to ask questions. “This is the first day of the year, so I expect all students to be looking presentable. You will go and clean yourself up in the break before your next lesson.”

“Yes, Professor,” said Fred, trying to keep a straight face. It was probably one of the most trivial things he’d ever been told off for.

But Professor McGonagall didn’t carry on going around the classroom. Instead, she made her way round to the other side of their desks and addressed Tee and Rose. 

“Girls, Professor Dumbledore has told me about your schooling beforehand. None of us know the extent of what you have already been taught, so I must stress how much more difficult you will find this year if you do not know what is required...” She seemed to speak in a much softer tone to them than to anyone else. “But if you really feel that you need some extra help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks, Professor,” replied Tee and Rose in unison, surprised but pleasantly so. Fred and George looked amazed.

Professor McGonagall then went back to her desk at the front and took out a tray of teacups from underneath it. By the time she’d handed one out to every student, they had all finished copying up notes and were waiting for further instruction.

“Okay then, class,” Professor McGonagall projected loudly to make sure she had everyone’s attention. “If you have taken your notes properly, you should at least know the correct incantation and an idea of the concentration involved. Now I would like for you all to have a practice, and I shall be coming back round in a bit to see how you are getting on.”

“This isn’t too bad,” said Tee hopefully after the first ten minutes. She’d successfully managed to Vanish the handle of her teacup, but the rest of it remained stubbornly visible.

“It is,” Fred disagreed, looking round the class. “But it’s not just us; I don’t think anyone has managed it yet.”

“I think I’m slowly getting there...” said Rose. “Evanesco!” Every time she performed the spell, the colour of her teacup lightened slightly.

This was more-or-less the extent of success that everyone seemed to be having. George had accidentally Vanished a hole in the desk when he missed his teacup and had to cover it with parchment so that Professor McGonagall wouldn’t notice. Fred’s spell work hadn’t seemed to affect his teacup in the slightest, so he’d attempted to hide it and claim that he’d Vanished it successfully. But when Professor McGonagall threatened him with detention for not taking the lesson seriously, he was forced to produce his teacup from underneath the desk and attempt the spell again.

By the end of the lesson, no one seemed to have managed to perform a perfect Vanishing spell. Professor McGonagall didn’t seem too worried. She’d collected all the teacups back in, including Tee’s handle-less result and Rose’s, which had ended up the colour of the sky after starting as a royal blue. After several more attempts, Fred’s teacup was now slightly transparent and kept shimmering for some unknown reason and George had somehow managed to Vanish the pattern off his cup but nothing else.

“That was a promising attempt, class,” reassured Professor McGonagall. “As much as I expected. I would like you all to practice Vanishing spells before next lesson. But keep it for your homework only; I don’t want to hear of any Gryffindor students making their enemies’ possessions mysteriously disappear.”

“Thanks for the tip, Professor; I wouldn’t have thought of that,” joked Fred as they were leaving, though not loud enough for her to actually hear. He obviously didn’t want any more detention threats from her today.

“Hadn’t you better be going to ‘make yourself more presentable’ anyway?” teased Tee.

“Very funny,” said Fred, taking Rose’s timetable out of her hands - which she'd been referring to again - and swatting Tee with it. “But you’re right...” He quickly checked it, then gave it back to Rose. “I’ll meet you guys in Herbology.”

“Where do we have Herbology?” asked Rose interestedly, putting her timetable away.

“In the greenhouses outside,” replied George. “Come on.”

They followed George back downstairs and out of the castle. He led them across the grounds, over to where a group of students were milling outside several spacious glass structures.

“Are the teachers always late or something?” asked Tee, noticing that there wasn’t a teacher there yet.

“No, we’re just early,” answered George. “We get at least a five minute break between lessons to make sure we get around on time.”

But, despite George’s words, Professor Sprout did turn out to be late. The whole class had now arrived and she still hadn’t turned up. Even Fred had rejoined them – the back of his hair now very damp but free of ink.

“So is that supposed to be more presentable?” teased Tee.

Fred laughed. “You’re a bit too cheeky for your own good.”

George gave his twin a bemused look. “Bit rich coming from you.”

“I could help actually...” Tee searched through her pocket and pulled out her wand. She pointed it at Fred.

“Hey, hang on a minute...” said Fred quickly. “Maybe I like having wet hair.”

“Oh come on, Fred. Just because I’ve been home schooled doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I know what I’m doing,” Tee insisted. “And you and George have been looking after us, so I’m hardly going to hex you intentionally.”

“Alright. But if I end up bald, you’re dead,” grinned Fred.

“Geez. I try to help and this is what I get.” Tee rolled her eyes theatrically. She muttered an incantation and her wand blew out a jet of hot air. She directed it at the back of Fred’s head, where it dried his hair almost instantly. “There you go!” she smiled, ruffling his hair. “Nice and fluffy!”

Fred felt the back of his head. “Wow, it’s all still there...” he said, acting surprised.

Tee was about to retaliate when Professor Sprout finally turned up. “Sorry I’m late, class! I was assisting Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.” She looked at Tee, who still had her wand out. “You won’t need your wand for this class, dear.”

Tee shrugged her shoulders slightly and put her wand back in her pocket. Professor Sprout showed them all into one of the greenhouses. 

“Now, I hope you’ve all brought a pair of either leather or dragon hide gloves with you,” announced Professor Sprout. Most of the class nodded. “For those of you who haven’t, I have a few spare pairs with me.”

There was a sudden load of noise as everyone attempted to find out their own gloves or try and get a pair from Professor Sprout. Eventually, everyone had got a pair and put them on.

“Right!” Professor Sprout raised her voice to get their attention. “We’re going to be learning the correct way to handle a Venomous Tentacula today.”

She presented them with a huge pot containing a tall plant, which resembled a venus flytrap with dark red, spiny tendrils. For a plant, it didn't look too friendly.

“Obviously this is a very large specimen and I don’t want to start you off on more than you can handle,” explained Professor Sprout. “So I have brought a small collection of young Venomous Tentaculas for you to practice on.” 

She indicated the tray to her left, which contained a number of much smaller versions of the one she’d previously shown them. Tee was put in the mind of something from an old Super Mario game.

“These are still only very young, so they haven’t developed their poison yet. But they still have sharp spines on their tendrils and quite a vicious nature, which is why I advise you all to wear your gloves,” said Professor Sprout. “Now if you’d like to come and collect one... I’d say one Venomous Tentacula between groups of three or four.”

Fred, Tee and Rose sent George up to collect theirs. He brought it back and placed it on the long work surface in front of them. It was practically burgundy in colour and had lethal-looking spikes along its dark twisting vines.

“I’ll give you all about twenty minutes to attempt to feed your Venomous Tentaculas using the best approach you can think of,” explained Professor Sprout. “Then I will show you the correct way to feed them and you can all have another go. The plant food is over there in those two barrels. You may begin...”

Once they’d gotten some plant food from the barrels Professor Sprout had indicated to them, they each had a go at trying to feed the Venomous Tentacula. None of them were very successful. The Venomous Tentacula stubbornly refused the food, however they tried to feed it.

Despite wearing thick gloves, none of them particularly wanted to put their hands too close to it. They first tried placing some food at the edge of the pot, though nothing happened. Rose then pointed out that it probably didn’t realise the food was there, so they attempted to move the food closer, but whenever they did the spiny tendrils would slap their hands away.

Fred tried throwing some of the plant food at it instead, but the Venomous Tentacula, seemingly annoyed, lashed out and drew a long gash in his cheek. “Ouch!” he yelped, as the ugly-looking plant drew its tendrils back in. “It got me!”

“Okay class, everyone please pay attention,” called Professor Sprout from the front of the classroom, sounding exasperated. Obviously nobody in the class had had much success. “I’m going to show you the proper way to approach and handle the Venomous Tentaculas...”

By the end of the lesson, most of the students had finally managed to feed their plants without them retaliating. The one that the twins had been working on with Tee and Rose had been particularly tetchy. Even when they were following Professor Sprout’s instructions precisely, the Venomous Tentacula proceeded to whipping around in its pot and showering the four of them with dirt. The four of them left the greenhouse covered in earth. They all went to quickly clean themselves up and change their robes before going down to the Great Hall for lunch.

“People weren’t kidding when they said fifth year was difficult, were they?” said Fred ruefully, gingerly touching the cut on his cheek.

“I don’t mind it,” said Rose. “We’re not really used to doing so much practical work.”

“What have we got after lunch?” asked Tee. She couldn’t be bothered to find her timetable out.

“Double Defence Against the Dark Arts,” replied Rose, who’d referred to her timetable so many times that she had the first day memorised.

“That’s not too bad,” said George. “Let’s just hope our new teacher’s up to scratch.”

“There’s a new teacher?” said Rose, looking over at the staff table. Tee looked as well.

“Yeah, Professor Lupin,” replied George. “I take it you two weren’t paying attention to Dumbledore last night then?”

“Of course not,” grinned Tee. “So what happened to the last teacher?”

“He was a total nutter,” said Fred. “Really fancied himself.”

“So did half the girls on the planet, for that matter,” added George in disgust.

Tee raised her eyebrows. “Who was it?”

“Gilderoy Lockhart,” said George.

“The poncey twat who wrote all those books?” Tee made a face. “That pretty boy who looked like a Barbie doll?”

Fred and George both burst out laughing. Neither of them had any idea what a Barbie doll was, but they could tell it wasn’t a compliment. “Finally! Somebody who can see straight,” grinned Fred.

“So who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts before him?” asked Rose.

“Professor Quirrell,” said George. “He wasn’t a great teacher either. He just used to give us theory work.”

“And there was the whole thing of him turning out to be possessed by You-Know-Who,” Fred added quietly.

“What? Voldemort?” said Tee without thinking.

Both Fred and George flinched. A girl sat a few seats away from them started and knocked over her glass of pumpkin juice. She glared at Tee.

“Sorry,” Rose cut in quickly. “Tee’s parents were Muggles, so she doesn’t quite understand the whole deal about You-Know-You.”

Tee smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I just don’t get why people are so scared of a name.”

Fred shrugged. “It’s just... a taboo kind of thing.”

“But it’s just a name! Come on, I thought you had a head on your shoulders; both of you,” said Tee. “Why don’t you just call him Voldy or something?”

Fred laughed nervously. “You are crazy, girl...”

“And proud!” Tee stuck her tongue out.

The mention of Voldemort had caused sort of an outward ripple – the noise level had dropped greatly. But now people were starting to chatter again and the hall filled with sound once again. After a few minutes, Fred and George both relaxed. 

“Hey, Tee!” someone shouted.

Tee turned round and saw her sister making her way towards her, followed by her usual group of friends. There was a clamour as they all attempted to squeeze onto the bench by Tee and Rose.

“How’s your first day going?” asked Kayley, once they were all sat uncomfortably side by side.

“Alright, I guess. I’ve not been able to perform a spell properly or look after a plant yet, but ah well,” Tee laughed.

“I hear you’re gonna try for Chaser,” said Kayley.

“So we're gonna be your fan club!” Sumayyah announced happily.

Tee looked bemused. “Fan club?” she repeated. “Does that mean you’ll be making up songs about how amazing I am?”

“No, but we’ll be writing songs about how you smell,” teased Marie.

“Rude," said Tee. She poked Marie hard in the side. “So why exactly do you guys want to be my fan club?”

“It’ll be fun!” insisted Kayley. “We can make pretty banners and stuff.”

Tee looked appalled. “I don’t want anything _pretty_.” She looked across at Fred and George, who were both laughing. “And you thought I was crazy!”

“You know you do really,” grinned Kayley.

“No I don’t!” insisted Tee. “Is that what you’re planning on doing? Showing up at the tryouts and embarrassing me?”

“Pretty much,” said Sumayyah, nodding.

“Oh cheers,” said Tee.

“That’s what family is for though, isn’t it? Embarrassing you?” giggled Rose. “It’s what mine all do anyway.”

Kayley and her friends insisted on staying with them at lunch, which proved quite awkward as there was barely space for them to move. They all had to shift at the same time whenever anyone wanted to raise their hand to their mouth, which Fred and George found very amusing.

Eventually, it was time for their double Defence Against the Dark Arts period. They said goodbye to Kayley’s group and made their way up to the third floor.


	3. Fitting In

When they got inside, they found that the desks had all been moved and stacked up at the edges of the classroom. Their classmates were starting to group around the front where Professor Lupin was stood next to a large black wardrobe, which kept giving a violent shake every minute or so.

“Good afternoon, class, I’m Professor Lupin,” he introduced, once everyone seemed to be there. “If someone at the back there would just like to close the door for me... Thank you. Now...” he surveyed them all. “I’ve heard that your past few teachers have not been entirely... sufficient.”

“Deficient, more like,” muttered George.

“So I've been planning ahead,” Professor Lupin carried on. “And I've decided to dedicate most of this school year to the defence against dark creatures. I'll also be using a similar lesson plan for some of the other years.”

Some of the class whispered quietly to one another. Obviously everyone was quite interested in these dark creatures that Professor Lupin was promising them.

Professor Lupin gestured towards the wardrobe on his left, which rattled on cue. “Can anyone tell me what is inside here?”

Again, the class started whispering to each other. “It’s a Boggart,” piped up a girl with dark pigtails.

“Correct,” smiled Professor Lupin. “Now as some of you know, a Boggart takes on the form of what it assumes we fear most. Does anybody know the way to defeat a Boggart?”

This time, the class was silent.

“No matter,” said Professor Lupin, unconcerned by the lack of response. “The incantation to use against a Boggart is ‘Riddikulus’. Whilst saying the incantation, you must imagine a form that the Boggart could be forced into that you would find amusing. Now I’d like you to all have a think about it and then you can take it in turns to face the Boggart.”

All around the classroom, people started asking their friends, “What are you most scared of?” There was more discussion as they were trying to decide how best to conquer their fears.

Tee whispered something to Rose. Rose protested a bit, but then allowed herself to be pulled over to talk to Professor Lupin. Tee explained to him about Rose’s illness and how this kind of thing may be an overexertion. There was nothing more tiring than fear itself. He nodded and allowed her to be excused from the task, though Rose looked a little embarrassed by it. Tee hesitated, tempted to ask if she could be excused as well, but knew that her reason wasn’t good enough.

“What was all that about?” asked Fred.

“I told Professor Lupin about Rose and he said that she doesn’t have to face the Boggart,” explained Tee.

“Tee’s come over all protective again,” added Rose, though she couldn’t help smiling.

The twins smiled sympathetically. Tee and Rose were both so different – Rose was sweet and good-natured, whereas Tee was loud and teasing - but they were clearly both extremely caring when it came to each other. Tee didn’t seem quite loud now, however. In fact, she was uncharacteristically quiet.

Rose gave Tee a nudge and said quietly, “Are you worried about facing the Boggart?”

Tee nodded slightly but then shook her head. “I’m not really worried about the Boggart... I’m just gonna feel stupid.”

Fred, who couldn’t be doing with people whispering, had been listening in and said, “What are you gonna feel stupid about?”

But before either of them could answer, Professor Lupin had gotten everyone’s attention again. “Okay, if you’d like to form a line here and you can all have a go at facing the Boggart. Remember, the word is ‘Riddikulus’. Don’t be too worried; I’ll be here to step in if anything goes wrong.”

Rose stood to the side, whilst everyone else queued up. Tee disappeared from beside the twins, who had both joined the queue near the front, and made her way right to the back.

In what felt like no time at all, half the queue had already faced off against the Boggart, including the twins – Fred’s Inferi had tripped over its own decayed feet and the head of George’s creepy-looking doll had fallen off and smashed into tiny pieces on the hard floor. Several students had somehow managed to get behind Tee and had jostled her forward so that it was now her turn to face the Boggart. She groaned and made her way towards the crocodile whose mouth had been taped shut by the last person. 

As soon as she got near, the Boggart turned into a huge, vibrantly coloured butterfly, the size of an eagle. Everybody in the class, apart from Rose, started laughing. Even Professor Lupin looked slightly bemused.

Her face flooding red with embarrassment, Tee waved her wand and desperately shouted “Riddikulus!”

The giant butterfly burst into flames and then Tee was propelled aside as the people behind her moved forwards for their turns. She shuffled over to stand with Rose and the twins, still blushing and pointedly not looking at any of them.

“Why on earth are you scared of butterflies?” asked Fred, grinning.

“I don’t know!” snapped Tee. “I can’t help it; they just freak me out, alright?”

Fred and George both looked surprised. Even Rose was taken aback. She’d never known Tee to snap at anyone before.

“Sorry...” Tee apologised practically straightaway. “It’s just... I get enough of that from people and it's really embarrassing. I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay,” replied Fred with a shrug. He looked over at a group of boys, who were all still laughing and pointing at Tee. “Clear off!” he said loudly, causing them to scatter.

Tee groaned. “Everyone must think I’m such a prat.”

“They don’t,” said George unconvincingly. “It’s just a bit... odd.”

“I know, I know,” said Tee. “I don’t even know why. I’ve been scared of them for as long as I can remember.”

“I think I know why you’re scared of them,” said Fred. They all looked at him in surprise. He grinned. “Well you’re strictly non-girly, right? Then you must be scared of them because they’re _pretty_.”

Tee couldn’t help laughing at that. She was just about to say something back when Professor Lupin suddenly strode swiftly past her towards the Boggart, which was now flicking from one form to another, seemingly confused. When Professor Lupin got near, it changed into a shimmering orb.

Professor Lupin didn’t care. He just waved his wand lazily and said, “Riddikulus!” 

The orb exploded and that was the end of the Boggart. Professor Lupin looked pleased. “Well done, everybody; that was really good. Seeing as this is a double period, I’ll allow you a quick break before we move on to the next part of the lesson. Now if some of you wouldn’t mind helping me move these desks back...”

The class chattered happily as they helped to push the desks back into place. This was easily the most exciting Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson any of them had ever had and they were all eager to see what Professor Lupin was going to be showing them next. 

Much to their disappointment, Professor Lupin asked them to take their seats at the end of their short break, as the next part of the lesson was going to be more theory based. However, it was still much more interesting than any of their previous Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. He described to them the dangers of Grindylows – water-dwelling creatures with long, spindly fingers – and how best to overcome them. They copied out some short notes from their textbooks, answered questions given by Professor Lupin, and had a thorough class discussion. They’d never had a lesson like it.

“There won’t be any homework today,” announced Professor Lupin at the end of the lesson. Fred and George both cheered. “I’ll be bringing in a Grindylow to the next lesson, so we can have some hands-on practice. Enjoy the rest of your first day, everyone. I’ll see you on Friday.”

“Wow, he really knows his stuff,” exclaimed George, as they left the classroom.

Tee, who had cheered up considerably during the second part of the lesson, was starting to get annoyed again as people passed her, still muttering and laughing. “I swear I’m going to curse the next person who points at me...”

“Well, we’ve got a whole free period now for you to try some curses out,” said Fred brightly.

“You guys might, but we’ve got Muggle Studies next,” Rose pointed out.

“Why are you taking Muggle Studies?” asked George, eyebrows raised.

“Well we’ve both grown up around Muggles, so you know what that means... Easy OWL pass!” exclaimed Tee.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea...” said Fred, looking impressed. “We’d be no good though. Our whole family’s pureblood. So we’d probably fail... Despite dad’s Muggle obsession.”

“What other extra subjects are you taking?” questioned George. 

“Care of Magical Creatures and Divination,” answered Rose. “What about you?”

“Same,” George grinned.

The bell rang, signalling to students that they had a few minutes to get to their next lesson.

“So what are you guys gonna do for your free?” asked Tee.

“Just go up to the common room and chill out, I suppose,” replied Fred.

“Do you wanna help us find our Muggle Studies classroom?” asked Rose hopefully.

“It’s on the fifth floor, isn’t it?” said George. 

Rose nodded. “That’s what it says on our timetables anyway. So do you want to be nice and help us find it?”

“Hmmm, well I dunno...” said Fred thoughtfully, grinning.

“Oh go on,” persuaded Tee, poking him in the ribs. “You’ve gotta go up to the seventh floor anyway.”

“Okay, okay,” grinned Fred, pretending to give in. “I don’t think I could bear having it on my conscience if you two got lost...” 

“Come on then. Lead the way,” smiled Tee, giving him another poke.

Now already used to following Fred and George like obedient puppies, Tee and Rose let them lead the way up to the fifth floor. The twins accompanied them until they found their classroom.

George peered in through the window in the door. “Yeah, that’s Professor Burbage; she teaches Muggle Studies.”

“We’ll see you down at dinner afterwards then,” said Fred brightly.

As Fred and George disappeared back down the corridor, Tee and Rose entered their classroom and found two empty seats near the back. Professor Burbage didn’t seem bothered by their slightly late arrival – she just carried on with her introduction that she’d already started before they got there.

Her speech wasn’t particularly interesting. She was describing how the civilisation of Muggles had managed to get by without magic, by using things such as electricity and fuels. Like the start of their Transfiguration lesson, Tee and Rose both found themselves not paying attention. Not until Professor Burbage got round to the subject of their lesson.

“Today we’ll be starting a new topic,” she announced. “One which we’ll be carrying on for the next few lessons. The topic we’ll be starting on is music. Muggle music is very different and far more complicated than the music that witches and wizards listen to. It’s split into many more categories than we’re used to – classical, soul, pop, reggae, rock...”

“Excuse me, Professor.” Tee raised her hand.

At least half the class looked around, curious about the interruption. Rose tried not to laugh. She knew Tee never spoke in front of the class unless she was asked, but music was one of Tee’s passions and she was hardly gonna let it go without getting a word in.

“Yes?” said Professor Burbage, quite surprised.

“Well there’s more than just one type of rock. There’s metal, alternative, rap rock, emo, indie, hardcore, punk...” Tee explained. “And then you’ve got different types of punk – there’s pop punk, ska punk, anarchist punk...”

She didn’t get any further because Professor Burbage interrupted her. “Yes, I am aware there is more to it than the extent of my knowledge and I am sure you could spend a whole week teaching me about it.” But Professor Burbage didn’t look annoyed – in fact, she looked quite amused. "But I’m afraid we wouldn’t have time for that in our lessons. You will all, however, have the opportunity to share what you know or can find out about music in the homework I’ll be setting.”

The rest of the lesson was quite easygoing. Like some of their previous lessons, they had to copy up notes, which Professor Burbage assured them would be useful when revising for their OWL examination, and they were also given a quick quiz. At the end of the lesson, they were given an essay to write on how much they could find out about Muggle music.

“That was without a doubt the easiest lesson so far,” said Rose, as they left the classroom and started making their way down towards the Great Hall.

“I know,” agreed Tee. “Who’d have thought there’d be a homework assignment I’m actually looking forward to doing?”

Once they were in the Great Hall, they sidled past the groups of students milling around to get to the Gryffindor table. It wasn’t difficult to spot the twins – easily noticeable by their red hair – so they hurried over to join them.

“How was Muggle Studies?” asked George, shuffling along the bench so that there was room for both of them.

“Extremely easy,” replied Tee, as she sat down in between Rose and a dark-haired third year boy.

“We’d barely been in there two minutes and Tee was lecturing the teacher!” laughed Rose.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t just describe rock music as one genre and attempt to move on…” objected Tee. “There’s so much more to it than that.”

Tee and Rose started discussing the subject yet again, whilst the twins listened in amusement. The twins weren’t the only ones listening though – a girl sat opposite with brown bushy hair was also listening to them. Tee and Rose both stopped talking when they realised this.

“Sorry,” apologised the girl, when they looked up expectantly at her. “It’s just that I heard you saying you were in your Muggle Studies class... I’m glad - I thought I was the only one taking it who’s Muggle-born.”

“Oh, right!” said Tee. 

“I’m not actually Muggle-born,” said Rose. “But I was brought up around Muggles. Tee is though.” 

“Yeah, Harry was brought up around Muggles too,” said the girl, motioning across the table to the boy sat next to Tee.

“They're not really the best example of normal Muggles though,” said Harry.

“Hey, you know who he is, don’t you?” interrupted George, giving Rose a nudge. “He’s Harry Potter!”

“Really?” Rose looked back again at Harry, seemingly impressed. Even though he was used to this by now, Harry still looked quite uncomfortable.

Tee didn’t seem particularly bothered by this piece of information. Instead she told him, “I like your glasses.”

“Oh... Err, thanks,” said Harry in surprise. That was something he’d never been complimented on before.

“Tee likes a guy in glasses,” Rose grinned.

“Don’t say that, you’re gonna scare him away now,” joked Tee. She turned to Harry, who looked like he wasn’t sure whether she was kidding or not. “I’m only joking, Harry."

“So what did you say your name was?” Rose asked the brown-haired girl.

“Hermione Granger,” she replied.

“Are you two best friends then or something?” asked Tee, looking from Harry to Hermione.

“Well, there’s the three of us,” said Hermione, also indicating the guy that was sat next to her. He hadn’t said anything so far, but for the last few minutes had been looking like he wanted to be introduced as well.

“We don’t know who he is though,” interrupted Fred.

“Complete stranger,” agreed George.

Tee and Rose could tell they were joking. Even though they were denying it, it was easy to tell the boy was related to them. The colour of his hair matched theirs exactly.

“Oh come on, stop being prats,” he moaned.

“Oh, alright,” said George. “This is our little brother, ickle Ronniekins.”

“Shut up,” said Ron.

“It’s our life’s mission to torment him,” grinned Fred.

“So are you two both in fifth year as well?” asked Hermione interestedly.

Tee nodded. “What about you?”

“We’re all in our third year,” replied Hermione. “It’s strange, but I don’t think I’ve actually seen you before...”

“Very strange. I’m not exactly quiet,” grinned Tee. 

She didn’t say anything else about it. The twins didn’t blame her. They could understand that she and Rose didn’t want to explain the whole story every time someone mentioned it. Ron then mentioned the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and the subject changed again.

“You two coming back up to the common room?” Fred asked Tee and Rose, once they’d finished eating.

“Yeah, sure,” said Tee. She looked at Rose, who nodded and got up.

Ron was still eating his third pudding, so the four of them said goodbye to him, Harry and Hermione before starting to make their way up the seven flights of stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

“Whose idea was it to make us walk up so many stairs straight after eating?” groaned Tee, as they were on the fourth lot of stairs.

When they finally got up to the top and into the Gryffindor common room, they quickly grabbed themselves some armchairs near the fire. For a while, none of them could be bothered to do anything else apart from talk. Then Fred and George introduced the girls to Exploding Snap, which neither of them had played before.

The game was so funny and exciting that they ended up playing for a good few hours straight without even realising how much time had gone past. After looking at the time, Tee had gotten out her Muggle Studies homework to make a start on it.

“I can’t believe you’re doing homework already,” said Fred disbelievingly.

“Normally I’d completely agree with you on that, but here I actually get to write about something I really like,” Tee pointed out. “So I’m not complaining.”

After the next half hour or so, however, Rose had gotten quite tired. Her meds usually had this effect. It didn't help that the flickering flames from the fireplace were starting to give her a headache.

“I think I’m gonna go up to bed,” she announced, pulling herself to her feet.

“And I am,” agreed Tee, collecting up her stuff. This time, it wasn’t her being protective of Rose – more wanting to have their own little chat before going to sleep.

“Bit early for you,” Fred remarked. He could now understand why Rose tended to retire to bed early.

“Ah well, we’ll party some other night,” Tee joked. “Night, guys.”

“Goodnight!” chorused the twins.

Once they were up in their empty dormitory – the other girls still being downstairs – Tee chucked her homework aside, before they both got changed into their pyjamas. Despite Rose being tired, they both chatted animatedly as they climbed into bed.

“That was one of the best days ever,” exclaimed Rose, staring up at the ceiling.

“Tell me about it,” said Tee, pulling her stuffed dinosaur toy out from underneath the pillow and tucking it in beside her. “I actually can’t wait for tomorrow!”


	4. Quidditch Tryouts

Over the next several days, Tee and Rose had managed to learn their way around the castle, memorise their timetables, and start getting used to all of their different lessons. Before they knew it, it was Friday evening. No matter how much they’d been enjoying their lessons, they couldn’t help feeling glad it was nearly the weekend – the workload was immense.

After finishing their dinner, Tee and Rose had gone back up to Gryffindor tower. The twins hadn’t been at dinner because they’d been held back in their last class, History of Magic, for both falling asleep. Normally, Professor Binns, their only ghost teacher, wouldn’t have even realised. But unfortunately, Professor McGonagall had dropped in at that moment to return a book and spotted them. 

So when they got into the Great Hall, a lot of people had already left, including Tee and Rose. They sat down next to Ron and Hermione, who were still there, and started to eat quickly. “Do you know where Tee and Rose went?” Fred asked.

“I dunno; they didn’t say,” said Ron.

“I think they went back up to the common room,” interrupted Neville Longbottom, who was one of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s friends.

Everybody in Gryffindor, at least, knew who Tee and Rose were by now. Whenever they saw Fred and George now, nobody was surprised to see them with the two girls in tow.

“Cheers, Neville,” said George. “I hope they haven’t forgotten about the Quidditch tryouts.” He then added to the others, “Tee’s trying out for Chaser.”

“Oh, right,” said Hermione. “Harry’s already gone down to the pitch.”

“Shouldn’t you guys be going too?” Ron pointed out.

“Why do you think we’re eating so fast?” said Fred sarcastically. “We’re not like you, we actually like to taste our food.”

“If we hurry, we can go and remind them when we go to collect our brooms from the dorm,” George suggested. 

“Yeah, okay,” said Fred, pushing what was left on his plate towards Ron. “There you go, Ron. You can have some extra.”

The twins pushed their chairs back and hurried out of the Great Hall.

“Do they just think I’m a pig or something?” said Ron, looking offended.

Neville shrugged whereas Hermione raised her eyebrows, as Ron, taking their silence as some kind of answer, started to eat the leftover food anyway.

When they’d gotten up to Gryffindor tower, Fred and George rushed up to their dormitory to grab their broomsticks. Tee and Rose weren’t in the common room, so they guessed they were up in their dormitory. They began to run up the stairs to the girls’ dormitories, but there was suddenly a loud noise like a foghorn. The staircase abruptly shifted and turned into a stone slide, causing them to skid back down and land bum-first on the common room floor.

“What was all that about?” said Fred, bewildered.

“I don’t think we’re allowed up there,” replied George uncertainly, getting to his feet.

They heard laughing coming from upstairs and Tee suddenly came sliding down, crashing into Fred at the bottom. “Oh, so it was you trying to get upstairs,” she said brightly. 

“How come we couldn’t get up there?” asked Fred, getting up and then helping Tee to her feet.

“Boys aren’t allowed in the girls’ dormitories,” answered Rose, who’d come sliding down afterwards and landed on her feet, much more neatly than Tee. “Apparently girls can go into the boys’ dormitories though.”

“That’s probably because we’re supposed to be good,” grinned Tee.

“I don’t suppose there’s much point asking you if you’ve remembered the Quidditch tryouts,” said Fred, as Tee was clutching her broomstick in one hand.

“Not really,” smirked Tee. “You guys ready then?” Without waiting for an answer she said, “Come on, let’s go!”

When they got down to the Quidditch pitch, Tee was practically bouncing with excitement. This was the first time she’d actually been on a real Quidditch pitch. Her cousin's garden had acted as a makeshift one when she'd been growing up.

“Tee, look! It’s your fan club!” said Rose, pointing to the stands.

Tee looked to where Rose was pointing and saw a vibrant sea of pink. “Oh, they have got to be kidding...”

She quickly made her way across the pitch, followed by Rose, to where Kayley and her friends were sat, wearing bright pink robes and holding up a big banner saying “We love Tee”.

“Kayls... You’re not serious, are you?” said Tee uncertainly.

“Nah,” grinned Kayley. “We just wanted to freak you out a bit.” Kayley waved her wand. Their cloaks turned back to black and so did the banner, the words shining red.

“Much better,” smiled Tee. “I’d better go queue up anyway. I’ll chat to you guys after.”

“Good luck!” beamed Sumayyah, whilst the others nodded vigorously.

“I’ll stay here with this lot,” said Rose. “Have fun!”

Tee gave them the thumbs up and went to join the other Gryffindors queuing up to try for the two new Chaser positions. Surprisingly, there weren’t as many as she'd expected.

“You nervous?” said a voice in Tee’s ear.

She jumped and turned around. The twins were right behind her. “Not so much actually,” she said truthfully. “So who else is already on the team? I know Katie is; she was the one who told me about tryouts in the first place...”

“Well, Harry’s the Seeker,” said George, pointing to Harry, who turned around as soon as he heard his name mentioned. “You remember Harry, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah, the guy with the cool glasses,” smiled Tee. “Hey.”

Harry laughed and said hi back. It was nice to be recognised for something physical other than his scar for once.

“And that’s Oliver Wood,” said George, pointing to a burly seventh year who was talking to Katie Bell. “He’s the Keeper and the team captain.”

“So he’s who you’ve gotta impress,” added Fred with a wink.

They didn’t have to wait long. Within a few minutes, Wood looked as if he was ready to start the tryouts. “Hey,” he called over to Fred and George. “I can’t get started with my Beaters distracting the newbies.”

“Oh right. Sorry Oliver,” Fred called back. He turned to Tee. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

“Yeah, good luck,” added George, as they went over to join Wood, followed by Harry.

“Okay, everyone,” Wood announced to the people who were queued up. “We’ll start off with some simple catching and passing. We’ll do it in groups of three. First off, is there anyone here who doesn’t have their own broom?”

Most people were already clutching broomsticks of their own. Tee glanced up and down the line – there were mostly Cleansweeps, but there were several people with Comets and one boy with a Nimbus 2000. Nobody else seemed to have a Silver Arrow though. A few people motioned towards Wood to signal that they didn’t have a broom, so he passed some of the school's spares down to them.

“Right...” said Wood, regaining their attention. “Katie here is gonna practice with you.” He knelt down to open the chest at his feet and pulled out a large red ball – the Quaffle. He handed it to Katie. “So if you first three want to kick off, then Katie will do some passing with you.”

The first three in the queue climbed onto their brooms and rose up into the air. Katie did the same. Once they were all up, she started with a direct pass to a girl with braided hair, who just about caught the Quaffle with the tips of her fingers. They passed the Quaffle between them for several minutes whilst everyone else watched. None of the three were very good. The girl with braids in her hair kept getting flustered, a dark-skinned boy dropped the Quaffle several times and a blonde girl started to stress about breaking her nails.

The second three weren’t too bad and neither were the group afterwards. A girl with flaming red hair in the fourth group easily outshone everyone that had tried so far. After watching some of the better players, Tee was quite nervous. She’d never actually played in a proper Quidditch game before – they’d never had enough players at home. Maybe she wouldn’t have enough experience to be on a real team...

But she didn’t have time to worry because it was her turn now. She took a deep breath, mounted her broom and kicked off into the air, followed by two sixth years. Again, Katie flew up with them and they started passing the Quaffle around. This was actually pretty easy, thought Tee. She didn’t drop the Quaffle once and even managed to make some difficult backward passes when she was feeling more confident.

She felt quite pleased when she landed back down on the ground to watch the remainder of the groups. Once everyone had gone through the catching and passing practice, Wood started pointing to each of them individually and split them up into two groups.

“Everybody’s done really well...” announced Wood.

Tee laughed quietly to herself. It was obvious he was lying through his teeth. Some of the people trying out had been spectacularly bad.

“But obviously we’re gonna have to narrow it down a bit,” he continued. “This group...” He pointed to the group that Tee was standing with. She held her breath in anticipation. “Have done really well. I want you lot to stay there.”

Some of the people in the group shouted out happily. Tee looked round to where the twins were stood at the side with Harry. They gave her the thumbs up and she grinned back. So far, so good. Wood apologised to the other group and they all left the pitch. Rose, Kayley and her friends started cheering from the stands when they saw that Tee was still with the remaining group.

“Okay then, we’ll move onto scoring next,” said Wood. “Everyone form a line so you can all take turns in trying to score. I’ll be up there to attempt to block your shots.”

The group that was left queued up again, as Wood mounted his broom and flew up towards the goalposts. He shouted down, “Katie, pass the Quaffle to the first person.”

Katie passed the Quaffle to the person at the front of the queue, who flew up to the goalposts to try and score past Wood. Tee looked round and found herself at the back of the queue. She wasn’t exactly sure whether going last was a good thing or not. People always remembered the last person.

There was no denying that Wood was a good Keeper. So far, only a few people had managed to get a goal past him. By the time it was Tee’s turn, she was feeling nervous again. The boy in front who’d just had his turn passed her the Quaffle, so she kicked off into the air again. As soon as she’d drawn level with the goalposts, she could hear her friends in the stands cheering again. She then heard Fred wolf-whistle, so she threw the Quaffle at him. It hit him hard on the side of the head. Everyone watching laughed.

Even Wood couldn’t help chuckling, though he quickly regained his composure. “Stop harassing the new girl!” he shouted at Fred.

“Sorry Oliver,” grinned Fred, rubbing the side of his head with one hand and throwing the Quaffle back up to Tee with the other. “Couldn’t resist.”

Tee caught the Quaffle neatly and, without hesitating, threw it straight at the middle goalpost. It soared through easily, as Wood hadn’t quite been prepared for it. For a moment, Tee thought he might tell her off for shooting when he wasn’t ready, but he beamed at her instead.

“Excellent!” he praised. “There’s nothing better than an opportunity to catch the Keeper off-guard.”

Tee smiled. This was easier than she’d thought.

“Come on then,” encouraged Wood. “You get three shots like everyone else. You’ve got two left.”

Again, Tee didn’t have to pause. She feinted to the left and then sank the Quaffle through the right hoop, as Wood had darted to cover the left one.

“Nice one!” shouted the twins from the ground.

“Last shot,” said Wood. “See if you can do even better.”

Stopping to think for just a brief moment, Tee feinted to the left again, then to the right, then threw the Quaffle hard towards the left hoop. It sailed through, just brushing Wood’s fingertips as he dived desperately towards it.

“Hat trick!” shouted Fred.

Wood gave Tee an approving nod and smiled. Tee beamed and flew back down towards the ground, landing neatly as she dismounted her broom. She felt elated already. What had she been worried about again?

Once again, when he’d rejoined them, Wood split everyone up into two groups. And once again, Tee found herself in the remaining group whilst the others trudged off the pitch. There weren’t many people left now – only about six or seven.

For the last test, Wood had them all fly round the pitch, judging their speed. Tee had an instant advantage – her broomstick. The Silver Arrow was built very similarly to the new Firebolt, which was the fastest broom around. She easily outstripped the others as she zoomed round the pitch, zigzagging between the goalposts to give them time to catch up.

Eventually, Wood called everyone back to give his decision.

“Okay, you lot were easily the best to try out here tonight,” he said. “But obviously I can’t choose all of you, so I’ve made my decision... For the new Gryffindor Chasers, I want you two.” He pointed to Tee and the red-haired girl.

“Yes!” Tee slapped her new fellow Chaser a high five. She had the urge to give Wood a hug, but she didn’t really want to scare her new Quidditch Captain. So instead, she held out her hand to shake his.

Wood looked surprised, but he smiled. He shook her hand. “It’ll make a nice change to have someone with manners on the team for once.” He looked pointedly at the Weasley twins, who had ambled over to congratulate the new Chasers.

“Her? Manners? That doesn’t seem right,” joked Fred, grinning.

“Shut up or I’ll crack you on the head with your own bat,” said Tee, though she was grinning too.

“I see you’ve met our little sister then?” said George.

“I have?” said Tee. Then she suddenly realised. She turned to the red-haired girl, who was now laughing at the look on her face.

“Ginny Weasley,” introduced the girl, smiling.

“I think my head must still be up in the air; I didn’t even clock on,” Tee admitted.

“You can see where she gets her good looks from, can’t you?” grinned Fred.

“I know you can’t be talking about yourself, so I’m gonna assume you’ve got a really glamorous mother or something,” Tee teased.

Ginny laughed. “I like you already! And we all know Fred’s full of himself; you just learn to ignore it.”

Before Fred could retort, they all found themselves surrounded by people as they were rejoined by Rose, Kayley and the others. “Well done, Tee!” cried Rose, giving her best friend a big hug.

“Well done to you too, Ginny,” said Marie, who had spoken to Ginny before.

“Thanks,” Ginny beamed.

“That Quidditch Captain’s quite nice-looking...” said Rose thoughtfully, looking over at Wood, who had put the Quaffle back in the chest and was now carrying it back up to the castle with the aid of Harry.

“I was thinking exactly the same thing,” grinned Tee, giving Rose a high five.

“Wood? Seriously?” Fred made a face.

“Aww, you’re just jealous,” teased Tee. She then tried to duck as Fred hit her lightly over the head with his broomstick.

“So you coming back up to the common room?” asked Kayley.

“Well...” Tee hesitated. She gazed imploringly at Rose.

Rose laughed. She knew exactly what Tee was thinking. “We can stay down here for a bit if you want.”

“Awesome,” grinned Tee, mounting her broom again. She gestured towards the foot of the goal posts. “Wood left the school brooms there that the other people were using. Why don’t you have a go on one of them?”

“Okay,” smiled Rose, running to fetch one of the brooms.

“You guys coming for a fly around before we go back up to the castle?” Tee asked the twins, hovering just above the ground.

“Yeah, definitely,” said Fred, mounting his own broom and kicking off, followed by George. “Come on, we’ll race you round the pitch.”

The three of them proceeded to zoom around the Quidditch pitch, whilst Rose entertained herself by looping around the goalposts. She didn’t fly that much at home, but she had good balance whenever she had a go on a broom. She waved to Tee as she shot past, followed by Fred and George. Despite being an old broom, the Silver Arrow was easily faster than the Cleansweeps, so she won the race with several moments to spare.

By now, Kayley and her friends had grabbed the remaining brooms and were all up in the air as well. Like Rose, none of them were regular flyers, but they enjoyed having a go every now and then.

After the race, Tee flew over to join Rose by the goalposts. She flew right up close to the middle hoop and wrapped her arm around the side. She slid off her broom to sit in the hoop, then manoeuvred her upper body through so that she could lean on the top of it, clutching her broomstick in one hand.

“Show-off,” teased Fred, as he and George flew over to them. “Whatever you do, don’t fall off... You’ll crack the floor open with your head.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” said Tee sarcastically. She aimed a kick at him from where she was sat but missed, lost her balance and fell back.

Fred and George both shouted out and flew forwards to try and catch her, but she hadn’t even fallen. Her one leg was still wrapped tightly around the bottom of the hoop, so she was now just hanging upside down. She laughed before pulling herself upright again. “God, you guys are easy.” She still had her broom clutched in one hand. She shifted it round to make sure she wouldn’t drop it.

“That wasn’t funny,” said Fred, but he couldn’t help smiling. He’d have to try that himself some time. He looked over at Rose. “You didn’t exactly rush to her rescue, did you?”

Rose laughed. “I knew she was going to do that. She always did it when we used to climb trees back home. I’m used to it.”

“Rose knows me too well,” grinned Tee.

There was a sudden rush of air as Kayley and the others zipped round past them, participating in their own race. Tee felt the goalpost she was sitting in wobble as they passed.

“Hey, isn’t that the Quidditch captain down there?” asked Rose, pointing towards the ground. Sure enough, Oliver Wood was coming back down onto the pitch, gesturing towards them.

“Yeah,” replied George. “Come on, let’s go see what he wants.”

Fred, George and Rose flew back down to the ground, landing where Wood was waiting for them. Once she’d got back onto her broom, Tee followed them down.

“Hey Oliver, what’s up?” said George.

“I came back to get the brooms,” replied Wood. “Madam Hooch wants me to take them back up to her office.”

“Oh, okay,” said Rose, sliding off her broomstick and handing it to him.

“I’ll get the others,” said Tee. But she didn’t get back on her broom and fly after them, like the others would have expected - she just shouted to them instead. “ _Oi! You lot_!” her voice was surprisingly loud and resounded across the pitch. “Come on, we need the brooms back!”

Amazingly, Kayley and her friends heard what Tee had shouted from the other side of the pitch. They all flew down to join them and gave the brooms back to Wood. “You guys had all better get back to the castle anyway before it gets dark,” he warned them. “Remember, there’s Dementors patrolling the school.”

“Yeah, good point,” said George.

“And we’ve got Quidditch practice tomorrow morning at ten thirty, so don’t stay in too late."


	5. Fist Fights and Innuendos

The weekend passed by way too quickly for their liking. But then so did the next few weeks. Before they knew it, it was the beginning of October.

Monday came and went without much excitement – none of the four had yet managed perfect Vanishing spells in Transfiguration; a bag of Bouncing Bulbs escaped onto the grounds in Herbology, so half of the lesson was spent rounding them up; they were learning about Hinkypunks and Kappas in Defence Against the Dark Arts; and Tee and Rose had moved onto sports in Muggle Studies.

They had Care of Magical Creatures first thing on the Tuesday morning, so once they’d eaten breakfast they all traipsed down to Hagrid’s hut. No one was really sure whether they liked Care of Magical Creatures or not. Sure, Hagrid was a nice enough person and teacher, but he had a liking for monstrous creatures and seemed to be blind to their dangers. So whereas the lessons were interesting enough, you always had to be very alert. Plus they had these lessons with the Slytherins. That was never a good thing.

“Alrigh’ everyone,” greeted Hagrid, once everyone was there. “If yeh’d like teh follow me...”

The class followed him round to the back of his hut where there was usually a pumpkin patch. Today, however, it was just an unbroken spread of earth. Up against the side of Hagrid’s hut were several boxes. Hagrid went over to open one and pulled out a black furry creature with scrabbling paws and a long snout.

“This is a Niffler,” he announced, holding it up for everyone to see.

Everyone in the class was surprised. It wasn’t usual for Hagrid to be showing them something that was cute and fluffy. Normally, he only liked a creature if it had fangs, a vicious nature or the ability to breathe fire.

“Now they’re righ’ useful, Nifflers are,” explained Hagrid. “They like shiny objects, so they’re good fer huntin’ treasure. Now what I’ve done here is buried abou’ hundred gold coins. So if yeh all wanna come pick a Niffler... I’ve got a prize fer whoever gets the most coins.”

Hagrid passed the Niffler to one of the Gryffindor girls closest to him, then went round and opened up the rest of the boxes.

“Oh by the way, yeh might wanna take off any jewellery or watches,” he advised. “Cause the Nifflers’ll go fer them.”

Tee and Rose both took out their earrings and Rose also slid two silver rings off her fingers. The twins took off their matching watches and stowed them away in their robes. The four of them joined the queue to get Nifflers.

“Now no one let yeh Nifflers go jus’ yet,” said Hagrid. “Jus’ wait till yeh’ve all got one, then yeh can start at the same time.”

“Do we have to let them go?” asked Rose wistfully, cuddling the Niffler she’d gotten. “They’re so cute; I wanna keep mine.”

“I know! Look how tiny mine is,” said Tee, stroking the fur of a rather small Niffler.

“It’s like you,” grinned Fred. Tee aimed a kick at his shin, but he skipped away from her.

“Enjoying your little dance, Weasley?” jeered one of the Slytherins, a burly boy called Montague.

Fred didn’t bother saying anything in response; he just gestured rudely towards him with one hand, clutching his Niffler with the other.

“Alrigh’ everyone, calm down,” said Hagrid hurriedly, as Montague and some of his friends started to shout back. “Has everyone got a Niffler? Yeah? Alrigh’... On yeh marks, get set, go!”

Everyone set their Nifflers down and they immediately began diving in and out of the pumpkin patch, producing gold coins and bringing them back to their temporary owners.

“Now there’s no good tryin’ teh steal any of the coins,” Hagrid added, noticing two Slytherins sneaking some of the coins into their pockets. “It’s leprechaun gold, so it’ll vanish after a few hours.”

The two Slytherins scowled and tipped the coins back out onto the ground again.

“I think that should be all the coins by now,” said Hagrid near the end of the lesson. “Come on, let’s count ‘em all up...”

After counting through everyone’s coins, the winner turned out to be one of Katie Bell’s friends. For the prize, Hagrid gave her a big bar of some of the best chocolate from Honeydukes, the famous sweet shop in Hogsmeade. Whilst he was putting the Nifflers back in their boxes, Montague and his friends were starting to taunt Fred and George again.

“So, Weasleys... You upset that’s only leprechaun gold? Bet that would have seemed like a fortune compared to what you’re used to,” taunted Montague.

“Just ignore them,” Tee said loudly to the twins. “They’ve obviously got no lives if they’ve got nothing better to do than to try and goad people.”

“You keep your mouth shut, Mudblood,” said Montague.

Tee rolled her eyes. “Oh, really original. How long did...”

But she didn’t get to say anymore, because Fred and George had both shouted out angry remarks and started towards Montague. Rose managed to grab the back of George’s robes and pull him back, but Fred got past before either she or Tee could stop him and punched Montague straight in the face.

Before they knew it, Fred and Montague were throwing punches at each other. The Slytherins were cheering Montague on, Tee was desperately trying to get in between them and Rose was digging her heels into the ground in her efforts to stop George from joining in too.

“Fred! Just leave it; he’s not worth it!” shouted Tee, grabbing Fred’s arm and trying to pull him away.

“Alrigh’... Break it up, you two!” Hagrid had suddenly pushed his way through the group of Slytherins crowding round. He shoved Montague away roughly, grabbed Fred by the neck of his robes and pulled him back with such force that his feet left the floor. “You lot, get back up teh the castle now!” he said angrily to the Slytherins. “Or I’ll be talkin’ teh Professor Snape abou’ this.”

The Slytherins grumbled to one another and all slouched off in the direction of the castle, Montague in the lead.

“Err... Hagrid?” Tee pulled at his sleeve. He didn’t seem to have realised he was still holding Fred up in the air. “You can put him down now.”

“Oh righ’,” said Hagrid, calm once again. “Sorry, Fred...” He put Fred back down on the ground again.

“It’s okay,” said Fred, readjusting his robes. “I can’t believe you let him get away with that though. You could have at least gave him detention.”

“If I’d have given him detention, I would’ve had teh give you detention as well,” said Hagrid. “What the ruddy hell were you fightin’ him fer anyway?”

“He called Tee a Mudblood,” said Fred angrily.

Hagrid sighed. “Listen, I know it’s not nice... I can’t stand it meself. But yeh can’t let ‘em provoke yeh just fer that.”

Fred started to say something back, but Tee cut across him. “I said just ignore them. I don’t give a damn what they call me.”

“But it’s a really horrible thing to call someone who’s Muggle born,” said George.

Tee shrugged. “I don’t care; it’s just a word. I’ve heard worse. Just drop it, okay?” she said to Fred, who’d opened his mouth to protest. “I don’t want you guys to get into trouble just because people are calling me names.”

Fred shook his head. “Okay, but I can’t promise anything.” He then grinned. “They’re Slytherins, they deserve a few punches.”

“Yeah, but you don’t,” said Tee pointedly. The skin around his eye was slowly darkening to purple.

Fred realised what she was looking at and touched his black eye gingerly. “Ah well, that’ll be a real easy way for you to tell us apart now.”

“Not that I need it,” Tee grinned.

Over the last several weeks, she’d still easily been able to tell the difference between him and George, much to Fred’s annoyance. Even one time when Fred had pretended she’d got it wrong, she hadn’t believed him for one second and had insisted that she was right.

“We’ll drop the bet anyway,” said Tee. “We didn’t even agree on any conditions in the first place.”

“Why drop a bet that you’re winning?” asked George.

“My way of saying thanks for sticking up for me,” smiled Tee. “Also I didn’t really care about winning; I just wanted to prove I was right.” She grinned and stuck her tongue out.

The others laughed. “Come on, we’d better go,” said Rose. “We’ll be late for History of Magic.”

“Yeah, we’ll see you later, Hagrid,” said George.

“Alrigh’. Jus’ try not teh let the Slytherins bother yeh,” said Hagrid, patting Fred on the shoulder so hard that it caused his knees to buckle. “An’ I’ll see yeh on Friday.”

Within ten minutes, they were sat in their History of Magic class and were already bored stiff. Professor Binns, as usual, was droning on without realising that nobody seemed to be listening. The four of them had sat right at the back so that they could get away with quiet conversation. Fred was gingerly touching his black eye.

“Go to Madam Pomfrey at lunch,” suggested Tee, referring to the school nurse. “She’ll be able to fix it in a second, like she did before.”

When Fred had got cut by the Venomous Tentacula it had turned a nasty shade of green the following day. Obviously, the Venomous Tentacula they’d been working on had matured more than the others and had already started to develop its poison. So Fred had had to go to Madam Pomfrey, who’d fixed it straightaway.

When he didn’t say anything, Tee said, “Or at least stop poking at it.” She pulled his hand away, then hesitated. “Sorry.”

“What for?” asked Fred in surprise.

“Y’know, getting you a black eye,” said Tee, like it was obvious.

Fred laughed. “It wasn’t your fault! I would have punched him anyway. He was asking for it.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” grinned Tee.

As usual, the rest of the lesson went by without any excitement. George was nearly dozing off again when the bell finally rang. “Did you not get a decent night’s sleep or something?” Rose asked him, as they were leaving the classroom.

“Yeah, I did... But Binns’ voice is the kind that either makes you fall asleep or want to kill yourself,” said George.

Tee raised her eyebrows. “Well we’re glad you chose the first one.” She turned to Fred. “Now you, go to the hospital wing. We’ll meet you in the Great Hall afterwards.”

“Okay, Mom,” teased Fred.

Tee scowled. “Go now or I’ll black your other eye.”

XXX

After lunch, they made their way up to the second floor for their double Charms period. Like Tee had said, Madam Pomfrey had Vanished Fred’s black eye in seconds.

“Do you reckon we’ll still be doing Hover Charms like last week?” asked Rose, as they took their seats in the classroom.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” greeted Professor Flitwick. He was so small he had to stand on a pile of books to be seen by everyone. “We’re going to be making a start on Summoning Charms today.”

“There’s your answer,” George whispered to Rose.

“Now the Summoning Charm requires great concentration more than anything else,” explained Professor Flitwick. “The incantation is ‘Accio’. For example... Accio quill!”

Rose jumped as the quill she’d been writing with was whipped out of her hand by an invisible force, causing her to blot ink on her parchment, and soared across the room towards Professor Flitwick, who caught it neatly.

“As you can see, it is difficult to keep hold of an object that someone has Summoned from you. Especially when you’re not expecting it.” He smiled at Rose. “Now I’d like for you all to have a practice. Use objects from around the room. Don’t try to Summon anything that’s too heavy or breakable.”

Almost immediately, the room was full of people shouting “Accio!”

Professor Flitwick laid Rose’s quill down on his desk. “Miss Cason!” he called over the noise. “I will leave this here. See if you can Summon it back to yourself.”

On her first several attempts, nothing happened. But on the fourth try, Rose’s quill came flying back over to her. By now, it was hard to hear anything over all the shouting. Dozens upon dozens of objects were zooming across the room in every direction.

Fred was the first out of the four of them to get the hang of it. Rose managed to Summon someone else’s quill and two books, but it took several tries for each object. Tee could only manage it if she stared intently at the object she wanted to Summon and didn’t break eye contact. George just kept accidentally sending objects flying in different directions.

“Do you reckon you can Summon something that somebody else has already Summoned?” asked George. “That’d be easier because then someone else is just doing half the work for you.”

Deciding to test it out, Tee concentrated on the roll of parchment that Fred was Summoning towards him. “Accio parchment!” The parchment that had originally been flying towards Fred soared past him before he could catch it, and Tee caught it gleefully instead.

“There’s your answer,” laughed Rose.

“Accio glasses!” said Fred.

“Hey!” protested Tee, as her glasses flew off her face, causing her to break eye contact with the paper weight she’d been trying to Summon. It dropped like a stone halfway across the room.

“Payback,” grinned Fred, waving the glasses at her. He put them on. “Do I look intelligent?”

“No. If anything, you look more stupid,” teased Tee, Summoning them back off him.

“I think he took what Rose said about you liking guys with glasses very seriously,” laughed George. He flicked his wand at one of the books on Professor Flitwick’s desk. “Accio book!”

But instead of Summoning the book he’d been concentrating on, one of the heavy volumes that Professor Flitwick had been standing on zoomed across the room instead. Rose fell back off her chair trying to avoid the book as it flew at her head.

“George! You’re going to behead me if you’re not careful,” Rose protested.

“Sorry!” apologised George, helping her up. He stared at her whilst she made herself comfortable in her seat again, as though just realising something.

“What?” asked Rose, noticing him watching her.

“You can tell us apart too,” said George in surprise.

“Of course I can!” Rose laughed, like anyone could do it. She was surprised he’d only just realised. “I just don’t show off about it like Tee does. And it’s not just looks anyway... You might be able to finish each other’s sentences, but you still both act differently.”

“We do?” said George.

“Yeah, you’re more thoughtful than Fred,” replied Rose. “Fred’s a bit more...”

“Loud?” suggested George.

“That’s one way of putting it,” laughed Rose, watching Fred fight with Tee over the paper weight she’d tried Summoning earlier.

“Okay, everyone stop!” shouted Professor Flitwick, who’d been taking cover under his desk as someone had accidentally sent a chair flying through the air. “That... wasn’t bad. Remember, you need to really concentrate. Let’s try again; I’ll be coming round to see how you’re all doing.”

After the first half of the lesson, there hadn’t been much more success. Professor Flitwick allowed them a quick break in between and then they started again. By the time the whole double period was over, however, they’d started to improve. 

Fred, Tee and Rose could all do it by the end – though they’d discovered that Tee couldn’t Summon anything if she wasn’t wearing her glasses (Fred said that must be where she kept her magic) – but George still hadn’t quite grasped it yet. Twice he’d knocked Professor Flitwick out of his seat by flying books. The objects just didn’t seem to want to move in the direction he wanted them to.

“So what have we got next?” asked George, rubbing the back of his head where he’d accidentally hit himself with the wastepaper bin.

“Divination,” replied Rose.

“Oh, that’ll be loads of fun,” said Fred sarcastically. “Old Trelawney predicting our misery for the next hour and half.”

“Well, we don’t wanna be late for that,” joked Tee. 

They slowly made their way up to the North Tower. None of them really liked Divination. In fact, the lessons were seen as a bit of a joke. Their teacher, Professor Trelawney, didn’t seem to be much more than an old fraud with a spooky manner. Rose was particularly disappointed because she was into a lot of Wiccan stuff, so she’d thought Divination would involve similar practices. Only it turned out to be a load of rubbish instead.

When they finally got up to the North Tower, they each climbed up the silver ladder into their Divination classroom. As usual, the room was very warm from the crackling fire and the air was heavily filled with the smell of perfume. There were no desks, just small round tables circled by pouffes and comfy armchairs. They sat in their usual seats closest to the window and furthest away from the fire.

“I think I’m gonna fall asleep,” groaned Tee.

“No, that’s George’s job,” joked Rose.

“Nah, History of Magic’s the lesson for sleeping,” said George. “Though the fire and the perfume aren’t exactly helping.”

“Yeah, wake me up when Trelawney’s come over to tell me what day I’m going to die on,” said Fred, snuggling down into his chair. “Unless she says it’s today and then you won’t be able to.”

“Good afternoon, class,” greeted Professor Trelawney, suddenly appearing from beside the fire.

“This is it; this is what’s gonna kill me,” groaned Fred at the sound of her voice. The others laughed.

“Today we’re going to be learning how to predict the future through the art of crystal balls,” announced Professor Trelawney.

“Who’s got crystal balls?” whispered Tee. Rose started giggling, George snorted and Fred clapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud.

“Now the art of Seeing through crystal balls is tricky...” said Professor Trelawney.

“How is it?” said Tee quietly. “Crystal’s see-through.”

“Maybe it’s harder to see through when you’re down on that level,” grinned Fred. They all started sniggering again.

By the time Professor Trelawney had finished her explanation of the gift required to be able to see the future using crystal balls, Fred, George, Tee and Rose had been laughing so much their sides hurt. They’d managed to find some kind of innuendo in everything Professor Trelawney said. Now they couldn’t even look at each other without laughing.

“Now I’m going to hand out the crystal balls to you in pairs,” said Professor Trelawney.

By now, Fred was on the floor from laughing; Tee had her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter; and George and Rose were both biting their lips to stop from laughing, turned away from each other so as not to make eye contact. 

This time, Professor Trelawney seemed to realise what they were laughing at, because she added loudly, “Pairs of people!” Totally oblivious again, she then went onto saying, “Now if you’re finding it difficult to concentrate, some people find it helps to bring the balls close up to your face...”

But she didn’t get any further because they’d finally burst out laughing and couldn’t stop.

“Now really!” exclaimed Professor Trelawney angrily. “I was under the impression that I was teaching students in their OWL year, not first years! Now please be quiet or I shall be giving you all detention!”

They fought hard to keep a straight face until Professor Trelawney eventually addressed the whole class again. 

“Now if you’d all like to split into pairs, I’ll be bringing these round,” said Professor Trelawney. She obviously didn’t want to risk using the words ‘crystal balls’ again.

She handed one of the misty glass spheres to each pair until she reached the four by the window.

“I don’t want you two working together,” Professor Trelawney said shortly to Fred and George, assuming they were the ones who had caused the trouble in the first place. “I want you to work with her,” she addressed Fred, pointing to Tee. “And I want you to work with her,” she said to George, indicating Rose.

She gave each pair a crystal ball and then walked away without saying anything.

“Look what you’ve done! You and your dirty minds have got us split up,” said Fred, pretending to be appalled. 

“You were doing it too,” laughed Rose.

“Yeah, but she started it,” grinned Fred, inclining his head towards Tee.

“And you should be pleased I did,” Tee grinned back. “I’ve put us all in a good mood. Now let’s have a go with these balls...”

They all dissolved into laughter again, but had to force themselves to stop when Professor Trelawney came storming back over.

“That’s it! I want you two to come and sit at the front!” she pointed to George and Rose, then jabbed her finger towards an empty table near the fire. “And I expect you to work!” she added to Fred and Tee.

George and Rose quickly collected up their stuff, still stifling giggles, and moved to the table at the front, followed closely by Professor Trelawney.

“Why is it that you always really want to laugh when you know you’re not supposed to?” asked Tee.

“Sod’s law,” grinned Fred, sitting forward in his seat. “But I doubt we’ll get away with it again... So can you see anything?”

“I can actually!” exclaimed Tee in surprise, staring into the crystal ball. “I can see a girl with red hair and glasses... No, wait, that’s just my reflection.”

Fred laughed. “Somehow I get the feeling we’re going to fail Divination.”

“No kidding,” agreed Tee. “So what can you see?”

“My crystal ball,” grinned Fred. They both collapsed through laughing again.

On their new table at the front, George and Rose weren’t having much success either.

“Can you see anything?” asked Rose, yawning. The combined heat and perfume made her want to do nothing more than curl up in her chair and go to sleep.

“No, I don’t... Oh, hang on... I think there’s a dead fly in here,” said George, picking up the crystal ball and examining it closer.

Rose raised her eyebrows. “How did a fly get in there?”

“There’s a hole in the bottom,” replied George, setting it back down on the table. He groaned. “This is so boring; we’ve been reduced to staring at a dead fly.”

“Let’s name it!” suggested Rose.

Now it was George’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Name a dead fly?”

Rose shrugged. “You said you were bored, so I’m trying to make it more interesting.” She lowered her voice. “What’s Professor Trelawney’s first name?”

“Err... Sybill, I think,” said George. “Why?”

“Sybill the fly...” said Rose thoughtfully. “Deceased,” she added with a grin.

George laughed. “She does look like an overgrown fly actually.”

Somehow, the four of them managed to make it to the end of the lesson without receiving a detention. They gladly rushed down the ladder and away from the North Tower as soon as the bell rang.

“You’ve gotta love Divination!” laughed Tee, as they made their way down to the Great Hall.


	6. A Scare in Class

In Herbology the next morning, they were dealing with Snargaluffs. None of them were particularly happy about this. They had to try and collect the Snargaluff pods by pulling them out from the hole in the middle of the plant. This was made much more difficult by the fact that the Snargaluffs had thick vines and loose roots to protect themselves with.

It was nearing the end of the lesson – Fred, George, Tee and Rose were all aching, covered in earth and backed up against the wall so that they were out of reach of the Snargaluff’s vines. So far they hadn’t managed to get any of the pods. Professor Sprout had told them they weren’t allowed to use magic in case they damaged the plants, so they had to do everything manually.

“Everyone ready for another go?” asked George, wiping sweat mingled with dirt from across his forehead. The others groaned but nodded. “Okay. Rose, you go for the pods, I’ll get the roots, and you two deal with the vines.” They all nodded again. “One... two... three... go!”

As soon as they darted forward, the vines whipped up into action to prevent them from getting any closer. George grabbed hold of as many of the roots as he could and Fred and Tee wrestled with the vines, whilst Rose attempted to get to the pods.

“I don’t think this is working very well,” said George, struggling to stay in control of the roots. One of them slipped past him, wrapped around Fred’s ankle and tripped him over.

“Ow!” Fred yelped, as he fell back and his head hit the floor. He lost his grip on the vines he’d been wrestling with. One of them snaked across and then proceeded to try and strangle him.

The next minute, Tee had dived onto the floor and was trying to pull it off him. She aimed a sharp kick at the root that was now trying to grab at her own ankle.

“Now!” George shouted to Rose.

Without hesitating, Rose plunged her hand into the hole in the middle of the plant’s body, which was now unguarded. She pulled out a grapefruit-sized pod. “Got it!” she announced happily. She ducked as a vine lashed out at her head, then retreated back to a safe distance.

“Oh, this is stupid!” cried Tee, still desperately fighting with the vine that was intent on winding around Fred’s neck. She pulled out her wand. “Relashio!”

Fiery red sparks shot out the end of her wand. The Snargaluff made a horrible screeching noise and the vines and roots all withdrew sharply. Fred rolled over and started coughing. George straightened up and leant against the wall in relief.

But they didn’t have time to relax because Professor Sprout was suddenly running towards them shrieking, her hat lopsided. “I told you not to use magic!” she shouted. “You might have done the Snargaluff some serious damage!”

“I think it did more damage to us!” Tee retorted, her hand on Fred’s shoulder, who was still fighting to get his breath back.

“That’s why these lessons are good for you,” insisted Professor Sprout, not even slightly disconcerted to see them both on the floor. “It keeps you on your toes! Now, you have ten minutes left. I expect you to finish without using any more magic.”

“We’ve been trying that all lesson, and look what it’s got us... One pod,” said Tee, rolling her eyes as Professor Sprout left them to it. She got to her feet, then gave Fred a hand up.

“I say we quit for this lesson,” suggested George.

“Yeah, we can’t really do much in ten minutes away,” agreed Rose, who was still clutching the Snargaluff pod.

Sure enough, the next ten minutes flew past. They wouldn’t have had enough time to get another pod. 

“Well done, everyone,” praised Professor Sprout when the ball rang. “You’ve all done really good, apart from a few... mishaps.” She glanced pointedly towards Tee, Rose and the twins. “If you’d like to put your Snargaluff pods in this tray on the way out... We’ll be taking cuttings from the Devil’s Snare next lesson.”

“Oh great, something else with vines,” grumbled Fred, rubbing his neck. “Please tell me we have a fun lesson next.”

“Sorry, we’ve got Potions,” replied Rose, depositing the Snargaluff pod into the tray near the door as they left. Fred groaned.

“At least we’ve got Quidditch practice tonight,” Tee pointed out.

Hearing this, Fred brightened up on the way down to the dungeons. Though no one could deny that the dungeons were depressing. Their Potions classroom was cold and dark and filled with shelves of jars containing different kinds of horrible looking ingredients. Then there was their Potions master, Professor Snape. Sallow-faced with lank dark hair and a hooked nose, he seemed to dislike any student who wasn’t in his own house, Slytherin.

Without bothering to even greet the class, he started to explain what they would be doing in the lesson, “Today you will be trying to make Veritaserum. Now who can tell me what Veritaserum is? Cason!”

Rose jumped. She hadn’t even been listening to the question. She’d been thinking about writing to her mom and asking if they could get a Niffler in the summer. “Erm...”

“Is there something more important for you to think about than your Potions lesson?” said Snape.

“No, err...” Rose started. George nudged her very slightly and pointedly tapped his parchment. He’d hastily written ‘truth potion’ and underlined it. “It’s a truth potion,” said Rose quickly.

“Yes, Veritaserum is the strongest truth potion that you can find,” said Snape. “So I think that will be... five points from Gryffindor.”

“What for?” said George angrily. “She got the answer right!”

“She did, but I don’t remember asking you to help her,” Snape pointed out. George glared at him, but didn’t say anything else. “So as I was saying, Veritaserum is the strongest truth potion there is. It is both colourless and odourless. You have this lesson to make it. The instructions are on the board.”

“The git,” George muttered, as they got out their ingredients and set up their cauldrons and scales.

“It was only five points. Thanks for helping me though,” Rose smiled. “I would have felt more of a prat if I hadn’t answered at all.”

“No problem,” said George. “I figured as much.”

“Do you reckon we can force-feed Snape our potions afterwards?” enquired Tee quietly. “We can make him tell us why he’s such a twat.”

Snape shot them a look as they all started laughing, so they stopped abruptly.

“Let’s concentrate on actually making the potions first,” said Rose hastily.

“Yeah, we don’t wanna give him any excuses to dock any more points off us,” added Fred.

XXX

They didn’t get to force-feed Snape their potions as, according to him, they weren’t satisfactory. At the end of the lesson, they went to have lunch – spending most of it complaining about Snape – then went back for their second period of Potions, where Snape got them to try and produce the Veritaserum again.

Afterwards, Tee and Rose had a boring Muggle Studies lesson about politics. They met up with Fred and George in Transfiguration – all of them hoping to have at least one good lesson for the day.

“I understand that we’ve been spending a lot of time on Vanishing spells and not much on transfiguration,” said Professor McGonagall. “So for now, we’ll be putting Vanishing spells aside. Today we’re going to be changing vinegar into wine.”

“Ooooh, does that mean we get to drink it after?” said Rose quietly.

“Well, you won’t. You’re not allowed alcohol,” Tee reminded.

“Oh, shush,” sulked Rose. “The doctor said I'm allowed a bit.”

“I’m sorry; am I interrupting your conversation?” said Professor McGonagall loudly, making Tee and Rose jump. “Please share it with the rest of us.”

Rose mumbled something inaudible. “We were just wondering if you could drink the wine afterwards,” said Tee boldly, completely straight-faced.

Several people laughed. A trace of a smile crossed Professor McGonagall’s face. “Well, you will need to taste it to make sure you’ve transfigured it properly. If you’re successful, you may be allowed to drink it all as a reward.” Tee was almost sure she’d winked at her. “But you won’t get anywhere with it if you don’t listen to me now.”

Tee and Rose both nodded and didn’t say anything else whilst Professor McGonagall explained to them what they had to do. When she’d finished giving them instructions, she made her way round the classroom and gave each student a glass of vinegar. Everyone started practicing as soon as she’d been round.

They could now see why everyone made such a big deal out of the OWL year – this spell was even more difficult than the Vanishing spells.

“Is the work gonna just get harder and harder?” said Tee. “I mean, we couldn’t even do Vanishing spells properly.”

“All the lessons seem to be a lot harder this year,” said George. “Transfiguration, Charms... Potions is always bad."

“Herbology’s lethal,” added Fred. “And Divination’s pointless, as usual.”

“So we’re in for a fun year basically,” said Tee.

Rose was trying really hard to transfigure her glass of vinegar. “Aww come on, I want some wine!”

George laughed. “Maybe we need to keep an eye on you.”

“I don’t like wine, so I don’t think it’s much of a reward,” said Tee. “Do you reckon there’s a spell to change it into Red Bull instead?”

“I doubt Professor McGonagall would even know what Red Bull is,” replied Rose, waving her wand at her glass again. But instead of darkening to the rich red colour of wine, the liquid seemed to be clearing instead.

When they were reaching the end of the lesson, Professor McGonagall was making her way around the classroom again. “I suggest you all try tasting your liquids now to see how you’ve done.”

By now, none of them seemed to have achieved the goal of the lesson. Rose’s vinegar was now completely clear, Tee’s was a lilac colour, Fred’s was a horrible acid green and George’s didn’t seem to have changed at all.

“Mine’s just water,” said Rose in disappointment, after trying the liquid in her glass.

With Professor McGonagall still standing over them, George made one last attempt and jabbed his wand at his glass of vinegar. To everyone’s surprise, including Professor McGonagall’s, the substance disappeared on the spot. He’d produced a perfect Vanishing spell without even meaning to.

“If only you’d done that last lesson, Mr. Weasley, you’d have received top marks,” said Professor McGonagall, slightly bemused. She carried on round to see how other people had managed the spell.

Tee tasted hers hesitantly, put off by the pretty purple colour. “Okay, it definitely isn’t wine... But it tastes nice, whatever it is.” She drank a bit more, then passed it over to Rose for her to try.

“It tastes like flowers, but nicer,” added Rose.

“Because that makes sense,” laughed Fred. He picked up his glass and inspected it. The liquid inside was now deep red. 

“Yours actually looks like wine,” said George.

“Yeah, but it was green a minute ago,” Fred pointed out. “I wonder why it’s changed colour...”

“Magic,” said Tee sarcastically.

Fred just shrugged and took a swig. He started coughing. At first, the others just thought he’d swallowed it too quickly. 

“Smooth,” teased George. 

Tee thumped him on the back. “You okay?” She was the first to realise something was wrong when he suddenly slid out of his chair onto the floor, choking and twitching. “Fred!”

George leapt down to his twin’s side in an instant. “Professor!” he shouted frantically. Fred’s skin was starting to turn blue.

“Out of the way!” said Professor McGonagall forcefully, pushing her way through the students that were all crowding around.

As soon as she saw Fred convulsing on the floor, she rushed to the locked cupboard at the back, opened it magically and started rifling through it at top speed. She pulled out a small bottle of clear liquid and brought it over, kneeling on the floor beside George.

“Hold him still and open his mouth,” she instructed him. “We need to give him this.”

“Okay,” said George quickly, his face ghostly white. “Tee, give me a hand...”

Tee tried her best to hold Fred’s head up – her own hands were shaking uncontrollably – whilst George prised his mouth open. He took the bottle from Professor McGonagall and forced the contents into Fred’s mouth. The potion had definitely done something because Fred immediately stopped moving and fell limp, his eyes closed.

“What’s wrong with him?” squeaked Tee, panic-stricken.

“He’s just unconscious,” replied Professor McGonagall, now looking slightly calmer. “Take him up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will sort him out now.”

George nodded and got to his feet. He pulled one of Fred’s arms around his own shoulders and hoisted him up. Tee did the same on the other side. Rose hurried over to open the classroom door for them as they dragged him out – the rest of the class were still watching in shock.

“I’ll go and warn Madam Pomfrey,” said Rose, hurrying ahead to the hospital wing.

Thankfully, the hospital wing was on the ground floor, so George and Tee only had to haul Fred down one flight of stairs. The blue was now fading from his skin. By the time they got there, Rose was waiting for them and Madam Pomfrey had already got the antidotes ready that she needed.

“Put him over there,” she said, indicating one of the empty beds.

They pulled Fred over and laid him down on one of the beds. Madam Pomfrey allowed the three of them to stay whilst she gave him two more antidotes. After the second, his eyes flickered open. His face was stark white. Seeing he was awake and okay, Madam Pomfrey busied herself with putting the rest of the antidotes back.

“What happened?” asked Fred groggily, struggling to pull himself up into a sitting position. 

None of them got the chance to answer because Tee suddenly punched him.

“Ow! What was that for?” protested Fred, looking stunned. George and Rose started laughing. “I have some kind of fit and then you punch me? I don’t think that’s fair.”

“That’s for poisoning yourself!” replied Tee. “You scared the hell out of us!”

“Believe me, I didn’t do it on purpose,” said Fred indignantly, rubbing his arm. He hesitated. “It was poison?”

George nodded. “Must have been. They had to give you three antidotes.”

“It was lucky Professor McGonagall had that first one in the classroom,” Rose pointed out.

“All the teachers have that antidote in their classrooms,” Madam Pomfrey interrupted. “It’s a precaution they have to take. What Mr. Weasley had the misfortune in drinking was the most common poison around. Common, but fast-acting and dangerous.”

“Lucky me,” said Fred sarcastically. The colour was starting to return to his face again.

Madam Pomfrey suddenly looked serious. “Do you know who gave you the poison? It’s vital we know so that they can be punished. They could have done some very serious damage.” 

Fred looked surprised. “No one gave it to me. I did it by accident.”

“We were supposed to be changing vinegar into wine,” added George. “We had to try it afterwards to see if it had worked.”

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. “You can’t just transfigure something into poison. Poisons and potions have to be brewed correctly. It’s one of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration.” When they all looked at her blankly, she added, “So someone must have put the poison in themselves.”

Tee looked sickened. “Somebody tried to poison him?”

“I’ve got a good guess who,” said Fred darkly. “We have Transfiguration with the Slytherins, don’t we?” Amazingly, that was a fact they could usually ignore. Mainly because none of the Slytherins were stupid enough to try and pick a fight right under Professor McGonagall’s nose.

“That’s a serious accusation to be making,” said Madam Pomfrey sternly. “I advise you not to pursue it if you don’t have any proof.”

“Yeah, but you said whoever it was needs to be punished!” exclaimed Tee. “Like you said, it could have been really serious! It could have...”

She didn’t seem to want to say any more. Luckily, Madam Pomfrey saved her from any awkward silence. “Don’t worry; I’ll be having a word with Minerva about this. Whoever did it will be found out and punished severely.”

She was then distracted when a small second year Ravenclaw suddenly burst in, sobbing. Whatever had happened had caused his ears to grow at an alarming rate, so that they were now the size of pillows.

Whilst Madam Pomfrey went to deal with the second year, George said thoughtfully, “We should have realised something was up though. Your vinegar was green when you’d finished with it, remember?”

“Yeah, and we thought it had changed colour by itself,” Rose reminded.

“Damn Slytherins,” muttered Fred. “I bet it was Montague. He can’t have exactly been happy with me since I gave him that nosebleed yesterday.”

“Oh God... I’m sorry, it was all my fault!” Tee groaned, burying her face in her hands.

“No, it wasn’t!” Fred insisted. “We settled that yesterday.”

“Do you reckon he’d really try to poison you just for that though?” said Rose, before Tee could try and argue back.

Fred shrugged. “In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s not exactly the nicest person in the world. Bet he’s gutted it didn’t work.”

“You’re in the hospital wing. I’d say it worked enough,” said Tee seriously. “Just be grateful it wasn’t worse.”

“Trust me; I am,” said Fred sincerely. “And I’ll just have to watch what I’m drinking from now on.”

“You haven’t exactly had a good day, have you?” said Tee, more sympathetically. “First strangled by a Snargaluff, then poisoned...”

“Then punched by you,” added Fred with a grin.

“Sorry,” Tee smiled sheepishly.

“I’ll let you off,” smiled Fred.

XXX

Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Fred in the hospital wing overnight. He wasn’t particularly happy about that because it meant missing Quidditch practice, which was the only thing he’d been looking forward to. They didn’t see him at breakfast and he wasn’t in their first lesson. But he quietly slipped into Divination ten minutes late, which they had second thing.

“You feeling okay now?” asked Tee, as he sat down with them at their table. George clapped him on the back.

“Yeah. I was fine last night, but Madam Pomfrey wanted to be on the ‘safe side’.” He gestured quotation marks with his fingers.

Professor Trelawney suddenly swooped down on him. “You’re late,” she said accusingly.

Fred jumped. “I was in the hospital wing.”

“Ah yes, I heard about that,” she said, examining him closely. “Are you sure you feel well enough? You don’t feel the other world possibly calling to you?”

Fred looked bewildered. “No, I’m okay really,” he insisted.

Looking slightly disappointed, Professor Trelawney drifted away back to the front of the classroom again.

“I don’t plan on dying today, no matter how much you want me to,” Fred muttered under his breath. The others laughed. “Seriously, she couldn’t care less about how I’m actually feeling. She just wants a bit of tragedy going on.”

Professor Trelawney cleared her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention. “As you all know, we didn’t have much... success with the crystal balls last lesson.” Tee, Rose and the twins tried not to laugh. “So today, we will be starting on dream interpretation.”

“Well that’s pointless,” said Tee quietly. “My dreams are always so random, they can’t really mean anything.”

“Now dream interpretation is a lot easier than trying to See, as it does not require a gift,” Professor Trelawney carried on. “You will be working in pairs again. Take it in turns to recount some of your dreams and use your copies of ‘Unfogging the Future’ to find out their hidden meanings.”

Professor Trelawney didn’t try to split them up this time, so they were free to work how they wanted.

“Okay, think of one of your dreams,” Tee said to Rose, opening up her Divination book.

“No, I always have nightmares. Do one of yours instead,” said Rose.

“Oh, okay.” Tee closed her book again. “Err... The other night I dreamt that I got suspended from our old school. Mrs. Cleaver was offended because one of my eyebrows was wonky.”

Rose burst out laughing and so did Fred and George.

“Oi! Stop listening and interpret your own dreams!” said Tee, throwing her book at Fred.

Like last lesson, this one wasn’t turning out to be much of a success. Tee could only seem to recount her most random dreams, meaning that her and Rose ended up laughing so much that they couldn’t even attempt to find parts of it in the book.

“Surely you can remember one slightly more normal dream?” said Rose, as their laughing subsided again.

“I can think of several nice dreams... But they’re not for nosy boys’ ears,” grinned Tee, inclining her head towards the twins.

“Right.” Fred put his book down and moved round the table closer to her. “Let’s hear about these dreams then.”

“No way!” laughed Tee. “I’ll tell Rose, but you two can just go and do your own work.”

“Go on,” persuaded Fred, smirking.

“No,” grinned Tee, giving him a shove. “Now stop listening in or I’ll personally poison you myself.”

“Fine,” said Fred, pretending to be offended. He shuffled away a bit.

“Tell me then,” said Rose eagerly, once the twins were in conversation again.

“Okay, okay,” grinned Tee, lowering her voice a bit. “Let’s just say there was a lot of snogging involved.”

“With who?” asked Rose.

“Richard,” beamed Tee.

“Oh, that’s not fair! I never get good dreams about him!” pouted Rose.

The twins slid back round again. “Who’s Richard?” asked Fred.

“This guy we both share,” laughed Tee, giving Rose a high five.

“...You share?” George repeated, looking confused.

“We don’t actually know him,” added Rose. “He’s a presenter from this TV programme that we really like.”

“Yeah, and we say that if we did know him, we’d have to take turns with him,” giggled Tee. 

She said something to Rose that the twins didn’t catch. They both laughed, then started talking about a van, which Fred and George couldn’t quite understand. “They’re having one of their hyper moments again,” said George, looking a bit put out.

“They won’t be for long. We’ve got History of Magic next,” Fred pointed out. “That’s enough to put anyone to sleep.” 

Sure enough, after Divination, they’d only been in History of Magic for two minutes and Tee and Rose had already calmed right down. The whole class sunk into its usual stupor as Professor Binns droned on for the next hour and a half. The lesson passed by without anything interesting happening, as usual. So finally, they were making their way down to the greenhouses.

“I really hope Professor Sprout was joking when she said we’d be dealing with the Devil’s Snare today,” said Fred.

“Why would she joke about that?” George raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t know; just humour me.”

Unfortunately for Fred, when they got into the greenhouse, they could see several large plants – dark green in colour with coils of thick vines.

“Okay, everyone, you’ll be working in fours, as usual,” announced Professor Sprout brightly. “I want each group to get at least one cutting from the Devil’s Snare for me today. Aim for the short younger vines closer towards the body. You can remove them with a painless Severing Charm.”

She demonstrated with her wand, directing it at the Devil’s Snare nearest to her. One of the new, lighter-coloured vines fell to the floor, wriggling slightly before falling still. She Summoned it towards her.

“Now the Devil’s Snares won’t exactly be cooperative,” said Professor Sprout. “But if you’ve all read through your Herbology textbooks properly, which I’m sure you all have, you won’t have any problems in driving them off. And don’t bother using Severing Charms on the adult vines – it won’t work on them; they’re too thick.”

Professor Sprout assigned each group of four to one of the plants. Fred, George, Tee and Rose found themselves working right at the back. Their Devil’s Snare didn’t seem to be moving. The vines were all coiled up around the body. They could see some of the younger ones near to the top. Fred put both hands protectively around his neck.

“Oh yeah, that’ll work,” teased Tee. “It’s really gonna take a look at you and think ‘Oh damn, I’ll never crack that...’” 

Fred ignored her and said instead, “Do you reckon we could get the cuttings from here?” He wasn’t too keen on getting any closer.

George shrugged. “Might as well try it... Diffindo!”

He made a slashing motion with his wand, but he missed his target. Immediately, the vines whipped up into action. One lashed out and knocked Tee’s glasses off her face. “Hey!” she protested, chasing after her glasses as they slid across the floor, away from her.

“Diffindo!” cried Fred and George simultaneously, striking out desperately with their wands. 

They both missed. One of the vines whipped out, knocking Fred over and then seized George by the ankle and hoisted him up off the floor. Rose ran over and grabbed his hands to try and pull him back down. Fred leapt up to help and so did Tee, who had now recovered her glasses.

“Okay, sod this!” Fred aimed at the vine that was suspending his twin in the air. “Diffindo!”

However, Professor Sprout had been right when she’d told them not to use Severing Charms on the adult vines. This only seemed to make the plant even angrier. It lashed out several times. One of the hits caught Rose sharply across the face, drawing blood.

The attacks from the Devil’s Snare seemed endless now. Another vine shot out and wrapped around Fred’s waist before he could even react, tightening fast and bringing him to his knees on the cold stone floor.

“Hang on, Fred!” shouted Tee, who was still helping Rose attempt to pull George down.

“I can’t breathe...” Fred choked out. The vine was squeezing him even tighter every time he tried to draw breath.

“Oh God...” Tee ran over to help him. “This is stupid; none of us have even read the damn textbook!” 

“Wait! I’ve got mine with me!” Rose suddenly cried. Abandoning George, she leapt over to where she’d left her bag and began rifling through it.

“Hey!” protested George.

“You’re okay; just stay there!” reassured Rose.

“Well, I’m hardly going anywhere!” The blood was starting to rush to his head.

“Hurry up, Rose!” cried Tee, still desperately struggling to loosen the vines that were trying to squeeze the life out of Fred.

Rose finally found the right page. “I’ve got it! Devil’s Snare likes the cold and the damp...” She pulled out her wand. “Incendio!”

A burst of flame shot out the end of her wand. The vines all started to withdraw. The one dropped George, who landed hard on the floor, headfirst. Rose rushed over to see if he was okay. The other vines released Fred, who collapsed forwards, once again fighting for breath.

“I hate Herbology...” Fred groaned eventually, clutching his ribs.

“I think maybe we should take the time out to sit and read through our textbooks,” suggested Rose, helping George to his feet.

“I think we just need the weekend,” said Tee, still kneeling next to Fred. “This has been a mad week. It...”

She stopped. She’d just noticed that Rose and George were still holding hands from when Rose had helped him up. Fred had noticed as well. He dragged himself up into a sitting position and opened his mouth to say something, but George seemed to have noticed and suddenly dropped Rose’s hand.

“We didn’t actually manage to get any cuttings,” he pointed out hurriedly.

“Well, Professor Sprout had better let us off, considering what we just went through trying to get them,” said Fred, deciding not to say anything about what had just happened.

“I don’t think it was just us...” said Tee, looking round the greenhouse.

Only two groups seemed to have actually obtained any Devil’s Snare cuttings. Many other people in the class seemed to be sporting cuts and bruises. The bell rang and Professor Sprout beckoned them all to the front.

“Well, I guess I must have had high hopes for this lesson...” she said, looking disappointed. “I want you all to read your textbooks properly and you can have another go next lesson.”

Nearly everyone in the class groaned.


	7. Starting To Settle

The rest of the day passed without much excitement, to everyone's relief. They carried on with Summoning Charms, which George was now getting the hang of, and they had to attend their late night session of Astronomy, where they filled out charts on Jupiter.

The following day they were all very much looking forward to the weekend. They were discussing it over breakfast.

“We’ve got our first Hogsmeade visit tomorrow,” said George. “I saw it on the notice board.

“That’s a nice birthday treat for you then, Tee,” Rose smiled.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow?” said Fred in surprise. “How come you didn’t tell us?”

Tee shrugged. “It’s just been such a mad week. I’ve barely even thought about it.”

“You should have said something,” said Fred. “We won’t have time to get you anything.”

“Oh it’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Tee insisted.

“Tell you what...” grinned Fred. “If we come home early from Hogsmeade, George and I can go nick some food and stuff from the kitchens and we can throw you a party in the common room.”

“Yeah, okay!” beamed Tee. “That sounds cool!”

“Come on anyway, we’ll be late for Care of Magical Creatures,” said George, spooning up the last of his cereal.

The four of them quickly finished up and then hurried out onto the grounds and over to Hagrid’s hut. “Alrigh’, you lot?” greeted Hagrid. “Bin’ keepin’ yeh nose clean, Fred?”

“I have,” replied Fred. “Can’t say much for the Slytherins though.”

Whilst the other students were still arriving, they quickly filled Hagrid in on what had happened in Transfiguration. Hagrid looked outraged. “Do yeh know who did it?” he asked.

They shook their heads. “We reckon it was Montague though,” said George.

“Montague? That bloke yeh got into a fight with last lesson?” Hagrid addressed Fred.

Fred nodded. “He’d probably think of it as some good joke to get me back with.”

“A joke?” Hagrid repeated angrily. “That’s no joke, he could’ve killed yeh!” Tee winced. “Has Professor McGonagall found out who did it yet?”

They all shook their heads again. They hadn’t seen Professor McGonagall since that Transfiguration lesson. “Madam Pomfrey told us they were gonna get to the bottom of it,” said Tee.

Hagrid nodded. “That’s good. Just try an’ stay away from them Slytherins, alrigh’? I’ll be keepin’ an eye on ‘em this lesson.”

Once the last few students had arrived, Hagrid addressed the whole class.

“Righ’ then... We’re gonna be doin’ Billywigs today,” he said. “Now who knows where Billywigs come from?”

“Australia,” Rose piped up. This was one lesson she didn’t mind reading up on. She seemed to like it more than the others did, at any rate.

“Yeah, that’s righ’. Five points to Gryffindor,” said Hagrid. Rose beamed. “I just want yeh all to have a go at drawin’ the Billywigs fer now. They’re in me house, I’ll just go get ‘em...”

“So are these things dangerous?” George asked Rose, whilst Hagrid disappeared into his hut. He had no idea what Billywigs were.

“I don’t think so,” replied Rose. “They have stings, but the book was really vague about what the side effects were. There was only a small extract on them.”

“Hey, Weasley!” Montague and some of his friends had suddenly appeared at their side.

“Get lost, Montage,” ordered George.

“Just ignore them,” Rose said quietly to the twins.

“Heard you had to spend the night in the hospital wing,” smirked Montague. “Can’t you handle a little...”

He didn’t get any further. Whereas Fred and George were taking Rose’s advice and ignoring him, Tee had suddenly lunged at him. Fred just about managed to grab hold of her arm and pull her back. The Slytherins burst out laughing.

“What do you think you’re gonna do, Mudblood?” jeered one of them.

“Don’t call her that!” shouted Fred angrily, though he couldn’t do anything because he was still trying to restrain Tee.

“Seriously, Fred, let me go!” objected Tee, trying to pull away from him.

“George, do you wanna give me a hand?” said Fred.

George nodded quickly. He took hold of Tee’s other arm and they both easily lifted her up. “Hey!” Tee protested.

They carried her round to the other side of Hagrid’s hut, away from the Slytherins. Rose followed them closely. The Slytherins all started laughing again, but they didn’t bother trying to follow.

“That’s not funny, guys,” said Tee, annoyed, as they put her down.

“Well, you said you didn’t want me fighting,” reminded Fred. “So you can’t either.”

“But that’s different. Calling someone names isn’t as serious as poisoning someone,” Tee pointed out.

“I know, I know,” sighed Fred. “But you need to forget about it. Otherwise things are just gonna get worse. If we just leave them to it now, then hopefully they'll get bored and find someone else to annoy.”

“Yeah, you can’t put anything past the Slytherins,” added George. “And Professor McGonagall said she’d sort it out anyway.”

Tee didn’t get the chance to argue anymore because Hagrid had re-emerged from his hut, carrying a small box filled with humming sounds.

“Now I’m gonna let ‘em all out,” announced Hagrid, putting the box down. “They’ll fly around a bit, but if yeh wait long enough they’ll stay still fer yeh to draw ‘em. They can’t go anywhere ‘cos they’ve got Binding Charms on ‘em. Now mind the stings on ‘em, ‘cos they’ve got some weird side effects...”

He opened the box and what looked like a dozen spinning tops flew out. Each of the Billywigs were half an inch long and sapphire blue in colour. They had wings on their heads and spun round at top speed. The thin spindly stings glinted in the sunlight as they revolved in the air.

The twins and the two girls set to work as far away from the Slytherins as they could get. They managed to tempt one of the Billywigs down and it allowed them to do sketches of it. Their one seemed to be particularly vain and even appeared to be posing for them.

“Aww, they’re quite cute. I want one,” smiled Rose.

“You’d want one of anything as long as it has more or less than two legs,” teased Tee. She noticed Rose trying to stroke the Billywig. “Err, Rose? You might wanna be careful...”

“Ouch!” cried Rose suddenly, examining her finger where the Billywig had just stung her.

“Well, that was clever,” said Fred sarcastically.

“I told you to be careful," said Tee worriedly. “Does anyone actually know what the side effects are?” Fred and George shook their heads.

“Giddiness,” replied Rose.

“Is that what it said in your book?” asked Tee.

“No, I mean I’m feeling dizzy, I think I need to sit down...” said Rose rather quickly. She attempted to sit down in mid-air. George caught her by the arm as she nearly fell over.

“Okay, I’m gonna go get Hagrid,” Tee decided.

“No, it’s okay,” insisted Rose, standing up properly again. “I’m fine really. The feeling’s just gone.”

But the next minute, before any of them could even attempt to say anything else, Rose was suddenly floating a few feet above them in the air.

“Umm, okay...” Tee watched in amazement. “Because that’s normal.”

“So yeh’ve found out the Billywig’s side effects,” said Hagrid, appearing beside them. 

“We have?” said George uncertainly.

Hagrid nodded eagerly. “Giddiness, followed by levitation.”

As soon as he’d said that, nearly everyone in the class started provoking the Billywigs into stinging them. Within minutes, the whole class was floating through the air.

“This is so cool!” exclaimed Rose enthusiastically, trying to paddle through the air.

“It’s definitely a weird feeling,” said George, who’d turned upside down and couldn’t seem to right himself again.

Hagrid didn’t seem to be particularly bothered about the fact that his whole class were now hovering above the ground. “Yeh migh’ wanna watch out when it wears off though...”

“Wears off?” repeated Rose. Without warning, the lovely floaty feeling disappeared and she fell back onto the floor. “Ow!”

One by one, the students dropped to the ground again like stones. George landed particularly hard, headfirst – much like he’d done in Herbology the day before. He groaned, clutching his head. “Doing that twice in two days can’t be good...”

“Don’t worry,” reassured Fred brightly. “There’s nothing in your head to damage.”

Not wanting to show Hagrid up as a bad teacher, the four of them quickly finished their rough sketches of the Billywigs. After that, they were free to let the Billywigs sting them as much as they liked.

When they’d finished the lesson and were making their way towards the dungeons for their Potions class, the side effects were lasting much longer. Tee had lost her focus from all the dizziness, and Rose was just about skimming the floor with her feet as she half walked, half drifted. By the time they got to their Potions room though, the effects had completely worn off. They couldn’t get their usual seats at the back – furthest away from Snape – because there was a big full cauldron already there, so they sat at the row in front instead.

“Mmmm, that stuff smells really nice,” said Rose, leaning back in her chair and breathing in deeply. Whatever was in the cauldron somehow reminded her of all her favourite scents at the same time.

“Today you will be learning about Amortentia,” announced Snape, as usual without any form of friendly greeting. “As you should have noticed, there is a cauldron of it at the back.”

Everyone swivelled around in their chairs to look where Snape was pointing.

“Amortentia is the most strong and complex love potion there is,” explained Snape. “Carroll, perhaps you can tell us what makes this love potion more effective than others?”

“Umm...” Tee hesitated. She wasn’t quite sure so she took a guess. “Because it smells of things we like?”

“A poor answer,” sneered Snape. “But yes, Amortentia is most powerful because it can seduce each person individually with the aromas they are most attracted to.”

“Well, at least I was on the right track,” Tee muttered.

Luckily, Snape didn’t notice, because he carried on talking. “You will each have this lesson to produce Amortentia. It is a complex potion, so I do not expect much result from most of you... But I’m sure some of you will prove adequate.” His eyes lingered favourably on the Slytherins. “The instructions are on the board. Begin.”

There was the usual clamour as everyone got out their ingredients and tools, and set up their scales and cauldrons.

“So what can you smell?” Tee asked Rose, once they’d all started cutting up the ingredients.

“I can smell vanilla, my Sun, Moon and Stars perfume, Bacardi, oranges, roses, the bakery, wine...” described Rose happily. “What about you?”

“Petrol, chlorine, this fruity hair gel I used to use when I had spiky hair, new car smell, that Kangaroo shampoo that Ariadne uses, Red Bull and somebody’s aftershave...” Tee listed.

“Oooh, whose?” asked Rose interestedly.

“Dunno. It doesn’t seem very familiar; I think I’ve only smelt it about once or twice,” replied Tee. “It was probably Kyle’s or something.”

“Who’s Kyle?” asked Fred, leaning in to listen.

Tee laughed. “Geez, you’re such a big girl! Why is it that whenever we mention guys you have to join in on the conversation?”

“Because it’s interesting,” grinned Fred. “So who is he?”

“If you must know, it’s my cousin’s boyfriend,” replied Tee with a roll of her eyes.

Fred looked slightly disappointed. “That’s boring.”

“I can assure you there is no need for talk of boys,” said Snape, appearing beside them and making them all jump. “You will continue with the lesson in silence.”

Disobeying Snape was a very stupid thing to do, so none of them said another word throughout the entire lesson. Surprisingly, they all managed to make quite a good attempt at the Amortentia. None of them quite managed to get the scents right – both Fred and George’s were odourless, Rose’s smelt faintly like flowers, and Tee’s smelt appealingly like melted chocolate – but everything else seemed to be alright.

They each put flasks of their own potions on Snape’s desk and cleared the rest away. By the time they’d finished clearing away, they’d already gone several minutes into their break. They hurried up to Gryffindor Tower to get their Defence Against the Dark Arts books and when they got back down to the third floor, it was time for their lesson anyway.

“Good morning, everyone,” greeted Professor Lupin, once the whole class was there. “You’ve all been doing really well with your theory work on Kappas and Hinkypunks. So today I thought we’d do a bit of practical work with the Kappas.”

He unveiled a large tank at the back of the room to reveal just short of a dozen Kappas standing in shallow water, baring their teeth at the students. They looked similar to monkeys, but with fish-like scales and a small hollow in their heads filled with water.

“Kappas are Japanese water demons,” introduced Professor Lupin. “They’re most commonly found in shallow ponds and rivers. Who can tell me what they feed on?”

Tee raised her hand. “Human blood.”

“Correct,” praised Professor Lupin with a smile. “Five points to Gryffindor.”

“How did you know that?” Fred whispered to Tee in surprise.

“I was with my uncle when he got bit by one,” Tee whispered back. “We couldn’t take him to any of the Muggle hospitals, so we had to call a Healer out to us. They told us some interesting stuff.”

“Now there are two ways to overcome a Kappa,” explained Professor Lupin. “The first is to throw them a cucumber with your name carved into it. They see this as a sacrificial act, so they won’t do you any harm. Does any one know the second way to defeat a Kappa?”

Tee half raised her hand, then quickly put it down again. She didn’t want to seem like a smart-ass.

“Yes?” Professor Lupin smiled at her expectantly.

“You have to trick it into bowing...” Tee replied hesitantly.

“That’s right. Take another five points,” rewarded Professor Lupin. Tee beamed. “A Kappa’s strength comes from the water in the hole in its head. If you can trick a Kappa into bowing, the water will leak out and drain it of its strength. Now I’m going to let you all have a practice with these ones. Try both methods and see which you think works best. There’s some cucumbers on the side over there...”

And so it went on.

The four of them were all very hungry by the time the lesson had finished, so they hurried down to the Great Hall for lunch. Rose took her chemotherapy pill before downing a bowl of pasta.

“So have you two actually got boyfriends back at home?” asked George casually, picking at his spaghetti.

Rose laughed. “We’re back onto the boys subject again?”

“We’re just being ‘big girls’,” grinned Fred. “So have you?”

“Nope,” replied Tee. “Rose is too goddamn fussy, for one thing.”

“Rude,” protested Rose, pretending to sulk.

“I’m only joking,” Tee laughed. “You know I think you normally have very good taste in guys.”

“Can’t be as good as mine!” Tee’s sister, Kayley, suddenly appeared and sat down in the empty chair next to Rose. She was surrounded by her usual group of friends.

“No, Kayls; you like Jonas Armstrong,” reminded Rose, making a face.

“What’s wrong with him?” protested Kayley.

“He’s a tosspot!” replied Rose.

“So what do you want?” asked Tee in a usual show of family love.

“We were just wondering what you’re doing for your birthday tomorrow,” said Kayley.

“Oh. Well, we’re going to Hogsmeade and then we’re going to partay afterwards."

“Oooh, can we come?” asked Marie.

“Okay, but you have to bring me presents,” joked Tee, sticking her tongue out.

Kayley and the others stayed with them through the rest of lunch. Her group then disappeared off to Charms, whilst Tee, Rose and the twins headed up to the first floor for Transfiguration.

“How are you feeling, Weasley?” Professor McGonagall asked Fred the moment they’d walked through the door.

“Fine,” replied Fred, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

“Professor, did you manage to find out who did it?” enquired Tee.

Professor McGonagall sighed and shook her head. “We don’t have any evidence to chase people about it. Do any of you have any ideas who it might have been? I’m not saying we’ll start punishing whoever you point the finger of blame at, but it may at least give us some leads.”

“Well, we thought it might have been Montague,” proposed George.

“And what makes you think that?” questioned Professor McGonagall.

“I kinda... got into a fight with him the other day,” said Fred. Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. “So we thought it might have been to do with that.”

“And he was trying to pick a fight with us again this morning,” added Tee.

Professor McGonagall nodded. “Okay. I’ll bear that all in mind. I assure you I’m trying my best to get to the bottom of this. And if I don’t have any luck, then Professor Dumbledore will be involved. Now if you want to take your seats, we can make a start on the lesson.”

Whilst they’d been talking, the other students had been filing into the classroom. The four of them quickly grabbed their seats on the empty row by the window.

“Good afternoon, class,” greeted Professor McGonagall. “We will be continuing with transfiguration spells. Though after the unfortunate event last lesson, we will move on from changing vinegar into wine.”

“Hopefully to something we don’t have to put in our mouths,” Fred joked quietly.

“So today you’ll be trying to transfigure teapots into tortoises,” announced Professor McGonagall. “Obviously this will be a lot more difficult as it requires transforming an inanimate object into a living creature. I will talk you all through it and then you can have a go yourselves. There is a chapter on it in your textbooks which may help also.”

Though not as disastrous as the last lesson, it wasn’t much of a success. No matter how hard they tried. By the end of it, only five people had made the slightest difference to their teapots. Professor McGonagall assured them all it wasn’t much of a problem; that they’d get better with more practice. So they all trundled off to their last lesson, History of Magic.

“Hmm, time for another sleep, I reckon,” said George thoughtfully, as they were heading up to the fourth floor.

“Maybe next Transfiguration lesson you should ask Professor McGonagall how to change a textbook into a pillow,” suggested Rose.


	8. Birthday Girl

The next morning, Rose was abruptly woken up by Tee diving on her. “Wow, anyone would think it’s your birthday,” she teased. Tee wasn’t usually this hyperactive on a morning. Luckily, the other girls in their dormitory had already gotten up and left.

“Sorry,” Tee apologised, though she was still beaming. “But I was hardly gonna sit and open my presents on my own like some sad bamp.”

“Good point,” agreed Rose. She rolled over, reached under her bed and pulled out a wrapped present. She threw it across to Tee. “Happy birthday!”

Rose lay on her front on her bed with her head resting on her arms, whilst she watched Tee open her presents. Pretty soon the dormitory was covered in wrapping paper.

“How do you manage to get the paper everywhere?” asked Rose in disbelief, though she couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re like a child!”

Tee grinned. “Well, at least I’m not like Kayls. She’s the opposite; she has to inspect every single present. I can’t be doing with that!”

Tee had calmed down slightly once she’d opened all her presents, so she’d stopped bouncing around long enough for her and Rose to get dressed. Afterwards, they went down to the common room. There was nobody around, so they carried on down to the Great Hall for some quick breakfast.

The Great Hall was very empty. The only people around seemed to be mostly first and second years. Obviously, the majority of the older students had already disappeared off to Hogsmeade. Tee was soon laden with birthday cards brought by several different owls during the morning post, but surprisingly, there was no sign of Oli. Whilst she was opening them, Rose had her own letter from Olwyn.

“Would you ever go out with someone who was like your best friend?” Rose asked Tee, whilst reading through her letter.

Tee looked up from her cards in surprise. “Why? Who do you like?”

“It’s not for me,” Rose replied quickly. “Come on Tee, you know what I’m like.”

Tee grinned. It was true. Rose was often quite a strong man-hater. “Okay, good point. So who’s asking?”

“Lauren,” answered Rose. “The letter’s from Jayne. She said that Lauren doesn’t know whether she should go out with this guy or not because he’s one of her best friends.”

“Ooh, is this more boy talk?” The twins had suddenly arrived at the table. “Happy birthday, Tee!”

“Thanks,” smiled Tee. “And yes, this is more boy talk. But it’s about boys, not _to_ boys. Nosy buggers.”

“So would you go out with your best friend?” Rose asked Tee again.

“Well... yeah. I mean, I already have gone out with a best mate before.”

“Yeah, but she’s worried in case it won’t work out,” said Rose, glancing at the letter again.

Tee shrugged. “Well, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. If they’re good enough mates, then they should be able to get over it. We did.” She was aware that Fred and George were still listening in. “Now you two had better start your own conversation or I’ll hex your ears off.”

“You’re such a friendly person,” Fred commented.

“So what about that guy, Nathan?” Rose pressed. “You refused to go out with him.”

“Yeah, I eschewed him with a firm hand,” Tee agreed. “But that wasn’t because he was a mate; it was because he was actually a bit of a tosser.”

Fred burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re really friendly.”

Tee couldn’t help grinning. “I’m only telling the truth.”

“Fair enough,” said Fred. “So are you guys ready to go down to Hogsmeade?”

“Aren’t you gonna have something to eat first?” asked Rose.

“Nah, we’ll grab something when we’re in Hogsmeade,” explained George. “We just came down to find you two.”

“Oh, okay,” said Tee, stuffing all the birthday cards into her bag. “Let’s go then!”

It was quite chilly when they got down into Hogsmeade, so they were glad they were wearing cloaks. Tee and Rose were fascinated by a lot of the shops. Neither of them had been to Hogsmeade before, though they’d heard a lot about it.

“Can we go to Honeydukes first?” requested Tee. “I’ve got loads of birthday money, so I wanna go buy some chocolate!”

“Sounds reasonable,” said George. “Come on then, it’s this way...”

It didn’t take long for Tee and Rose to realise that they loved Hogsmeade.

They’d been into the sweet shop, Honeydukes, and brought bags and bags of different sweets – Bertie Botts’ Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, sugar quills, ice mice, pepper imps... They’d been put off the Fizzing Whizzbees because Hagrid had told them that dry Billywig stings were used in them. Rose had even bought a blood-flavoured lollipop, which made Fred and George call her a vampire for the rest of the day – something which, strangely, she didn’t seem to mind at all.

They spent over an hour in Zonko’s joke shop. You didn’t need to know the twins’ reputations as the school’s top troublemakers and pranksters to know that it was their favourite shop. They had had to make a quick escape though, because Tee had thought it would be funny to empty a packet of sherbet powder from Honeydukes into the trick water fountain that sprayed everyone as they went past. She didn’t realise it would cause a small tidal wave of froth to spill all across the floor.

“You’re a bad girl and that’s why I like you,” said Fred, impressed.

They went to the Shrieking Shack, which was apparently the most haunted place in Britain, but it was all boarded up and there was no way in. Fred and George said they’d attempted it several times before. They hung around for a while, jumping out on any third years who had crept up for their first look and terrifying them, including the twins’ younger brother Ron, and his friend Hermione.

After this, they were starting to get quite cold. Rose felt like her fingers were going to drop off from numbness. She’d already linked arms with Tee ages ago to try and steal some body heat off her.

“Shall we go to the Three Broomsticks and warm up a bit?” suggested George, rubbing his hands together. “We can get some Butterbeer.”

“Or some Firewhisky,” grinned Fred, his teeth chattering.

“You wish,” said George. “You know you won’t get served.”

Tee laughed. “Really? I always get served in the pubs at home.”

She was telling the truth, but Fred didn’t believe her. “Yeah, right. You’re too small to get served.”

Tee gave him an evil look. “Shut up or you’ll feel my ‘small’ foot on your big backside.”

“As always, Tee opts for the friendly approach,” laughed George.

They stayed in the Three Broomsticks for nearly an hour. Fred did attempt to order some Firewhisky but the barmaid, Madam Rosmerta, refused point blank. Eventually, they left into the cold and back up to Hogwarts. Tee and Rose carried on up to Gryffindor Tower, whilst the twins disappeared off to get some food from the kitchens.

“I miss everyone back home,” said Tee sadly, looking through her cards when they were sat by the fire.

“Me too,” agreed Rose. She looked over at the window. “Looks like you’ve got another delivery.”

Tee glanced across at the window as well. Her cute barn owl, Oli, was perched on the windowsill outside, clutching an envelope in his beak. Tee went over to let him in. He allowed her to relieve him of the envelope and then took flight out through the window again.

“Who’s it from?” asked Rose, as Tee opened the card and started reading through it.

“It’s from Matt,” replied Tee. “Blimey, he’s written me an essay...”

“Bless him,” laughed Rose. “What’s he rambling on about?”

“Oh wow, the boy’s a genius!” exclaimed Tee. “He’s given me directions for a spell. He’s wrote up this long-winded explanation that I don’t really get, but apparently it’s some kind of protective charm and it’ll make my iPod work!”

“Cool!” said Rose. “So we’ll have some music for the party then.”

Tee nodded and beamed. “I’ll go get my iPod and my speakers.” She took her mini speakers everywhere with her because they also acted as a docking station. As she disappeared up to their dormitory, more people started to arrive – including Kayley and her friends.

“Where’s Tee?” asked Kayley, as they came over to sit with Rose.

“She’s gone to get her iPod,” replied Rose.

“Why? They don’t work here,” said Marie.

“Matt told her some protective spell that she can use to make it work,” explained Rose.

“Wow, that’s cool!” said Kayley. “His geeky skills have come in handy for once.”

When Tee came back down from the dormitory, the twins had just arrived with armfuls of food and bottles of Butterbeer. They put everything on one of the tables at the side of the room. Tee went over to join them to set her iPod up. She fitted it into the docking station and turned it on. She’d already performed the spell up in the dormitory.

“What are you doing?” asked George, watching her.

“Music!” Tee exclaimed happily.

“Muggle stuff doesn’t work here, remember?” George reminded her.

“Yeah, but I got a card from one of my friends earlier and he told me a spell to use on it,” Tee explained, putting on ‘Acceptable in the 80s’ by Calvin Harris.

“Boyfriend?” asked Fred.

Tee started laughing. “I told you I don’t have a boyfriend! He’s my ex. Happy now?”

Fred grinned and went to say something else, but Tee quickly grabbed one of the cauldron cakes from the side and shoved it into his open mouth. He choked on it in surprise. George burst out laughing.

“That’s for being nosy,” grinned Tee. She hurried off quickly while Fred was still trying to swallow the mouthful of cake.

“What did you do to him?” asked Rose interestedly, noticing Tee’s quick escape.

“Shut his cakehole,” said Tee brightly. “Now who’s ready to go and boogie on down?”

The next minute, the six girls were all dancing around to the music in their own group. Well, five of them were – Sumayyah and Shabana had to be forced into it. All the while, more Gryffindors were turning up and joining in.

Half an hour later, some of them had gotten bored of dancing. Sumayyah and Shabana had escaped as soon as they could and were now hanging around the food tables. Rose was sat by the fire, chatting with George. Tee, Kayley and Marie were still up dancing.

“Ooh, fitties at twelve o’clock!” said Tee, looking over Kayley’s shoulder at two guys dancing a few feet away from them. One of them had blonde spiky hair with a long fringe and the other had short black hair and was wearing glasses.

“Ooh, yeah!” agreed Marie, following Tee’s gaze.

“I’ve never seen them before,” remarked Tee. Fred suddenly came dancing over to them. “Oh no, what do you want?”

“What? Aren’t you happy to see me?” grinned Fred.

“No,” laughed Tee. “We’re trying to go on the pull.”

“With who?” asked Fred, looking around.

“The hot guys at twelve o’clock,” replied Tee.

Fred looked confused. “What do you mean, twelve o’clock?”

“It’s a subtle way of saying where someone is,” explained Tee. “So you think of it in terms of the positions of numbers on a clock.”

Fred looked even more confused. “So twelve o’clock is...” He scratched his head and looked up. Tee, Kayley and Marie all started laughing.

“No, you idiot,” laughed Tee. “They’re behind you.”

“Oh, right,” grinned Fred. He looked round at the guys, then shrugged his shoulders slightly. “Do you know who they are?”

Tee shook her head. “No, but we likey. Marie, which one do you want?”

“The blonde one,” replied Marie.

“Good; I wanted the one with the glasses,” grinned Tee. “Go ask them to dance with us then, Marie.”

“No way!” protested Marie. “You do it.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not a big talker.”

Fred snorted with laughter. “Yeah, right.”

Tee grinned again. “Okay, okay. How about we drag them over to dance with us?”

“You mean just go and grab them?”

“Yes.”

Marie thought about it for a moment. “...Okay!”

Fred looked amused. “Are you serious? You’re gonna go up and grab some total strangers?”

“Yeah, pretty much!” beamed Tee. “Come on, Marie.”

Fred and Kayley watched in amusement as Tee and Marie went up to the two guys. They didn’t say anything to them; they just took hold of their arms. The guys looked slightly bemused but allowed themselves to be pulled over.

“Blimey,” whistled Fred, impressed.

It didn’t last long though. After about ten minutes, the two guys must have eventually gotten scared and danced away as politely as they could. They’d either gone up to their dormitories or left the common room, because they didn’t see them again for the rest of the night. Tee and Marie weren’t particularly bothered though.

“Oh well, at least we can say that we literally ‘pulled’ two guys,” said Tee brightly.

The playlist on Tee’s iPod had been left on random, so they were getting a complete mix of songs coming up. They’d just been moshing to Marilyn Manson when a much slower song came on – ‘Starlight’ by Muse.

“Ooh, I love this song!” exclaimed Rose excitedly, jumping up from her seat.

“And me!” agreed Tee. “Come on, Rose, let’s dance!”

By this point, a lot of people had sat down. The majority that were still left dancing were couples. Tee was attempting to slow dance with Rose. Rose was actually pretty good, but Tee seemed to have too much energy to get the hang of it.

“I’m sorry, my Rose,” apologised Tee, after tripping over her own feet for the third time. “I’m not very good at this. You need a guy to dance with.”

“It’s okay,” laughed Rose. “I didn’t think ballroom type dancing was particularly your style.”

As soon as they’d stopped, a tall seventh year with short, dirty blonde hair came over to them. His eyes were an incredibly bold shade of green. He looked at Rose expectantly and did a mock bow. “May I have this dance?” 

Rose giggled. “Yeah, okay.” So what if it was cheesy? He was cute!

“Hey, don't suppose you have any mates you can pass on if you're stealing my dance partner?” Tee hinted, wanting in on the action too.

The guy looked slightly amused. “Okay, Mrs. Forward, hang on...” He waved towards a guy stood talking to Oliver Wood, gesturing him to come over.

Perplexed, the guy hesitantly sauntered over. “What’s up?”

“Sam, my man... You wanna keep this little lady company so I can steal her friend for a bit?” requested the first guy.

Sam looked at Tee and smiled. “Yeah, okay.”

She smiled back. He was pretty nice-looking. He had green eyes as well, though much paler, and his hair was dark brown and floppy. They immediately struck up a conversation, whilst Rose let the other guy lead her away a bit so that they had some space to dance.

“So what’s your name?” the guy asked, one hand holding hers and the other resting lightly against her waist as they slowly revolved on the spot.

“Rose,” she replied.

“That’s pretty. I’m Jensen,” he introduced. “How come I haven’t really seen you around much before?”

“Who knows? I’ve been here a while,” replied Rose. It wasn’t exactly a lie. A month could be counted as ‘a while’.

As they were dancing, the common room seemed to be emptying. People were disappearing off in pairs. Marie had gone with a sixth year called Jack and Shabana had disappeared with someone too. Kayley was still left chatting to Sumayyah. Well, complaining about the song rather than chatting. She hated Muse.

Rose looked around the common room over Jensen’s shoulder. Fred and George were nowhere to be seen either. Then she realised that even Tee had disappeared and so had that Sam guy.

Jensen seemed to have noticed as well. “Geez. Everyone left quick, didn’t they?”

“No kidding,” Rose agreed.

The night was a lot of fun though. She danced with Jensen until the end of the song and then for several more after that. About two hours later, the party had officially ended. It was late, all the food had gone, the music had been turned right down and practically everyone had retired to bed. The only ones left now were Rose, Tee and the twins, who had all reappeared. They were sat in their usual seats by the fire.

“So what were you off doing, Tee?” asked Rose.

“I was with that guy; what do you think I was doing?” grinned Tee.

“What guy?” asked Fred interestedly.

Tee didn’t even tell him off for being nosy this time. “This seventh year called Sam. I was chatting to him because his friend wanted to dance with Rose. But then we got a bit bored of talking so we went off for a snog instead.”

“You little player,” laughed Fred. “Do you normally pick up random blokes?”

“Not always,” grinned Tee. “But it’s my birthday; leave me alone.”

“Where were you guys anyway?” asked Rose. “I was abandoned by practically everyone.”

“Apparently someone had tipped McGonagall off that there was a party going on, so we went and distracted her,” explained Fred.

“For the whole evening?” said Rose disbelievingly.

“Nah, we just went to her several times with different excuses to throw her off,” said George.

“She got a bit fed up with us,” grinned Fred.

“But we got rid of her in the end,” added George.

“Did you have a good time anyway?” asked Fred.

“Yeah, it was great! Thank you!” exclaimed Tee. She then surprised him by giving him a hug, but he looked pleased. “George, I’d hug you too, but you’re sat all over there and I _really_ can’t be bothered to move right now.”

“It’s okay,” laughed George. “Did you enjoy it, Rose?”

“Definitely,” smiled Rose. 

They all carried on talking for a while. As the conversation went on, they realised that Tee wasn’t saying much anymore – instead, she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Birthday excitement always ended up really tiring her out.

“Tee, why don’t you go to bed if you’re that tired?” suggested Rose. She was happy that, for once, it was late and she wasn’t the one who was tired. 

“Can’t be arsed,” mumbled Tee. “But it’s okay, I’m still awake.”

They’d barely been talking for more than another minute when Tee had fallen asleep on Fred’s shoulder. He laughed. “Yeah, that looks like she’s awake.”

“Don’t you just wanna poke her?” grinned George.

“Do that and I’ll bite you,” said Rose, sticking up for her best friend.

George raised his eyebrows. “Bite me?”

Rose grinned. “You were calling me a vampire and that’s what vampires do.”

George shrugged. “Fair enough. Okay, I won’t poke her.”

After another half an hour of talking, the three of them were starting to get tired as well. It was well past midnight. “Okay, I’m going up now,” announced Rose eventually. “You’ll have to wake her up; I’ll drag her upstairs with me.”

Fred gave Tee a gentle nudge. “Come on, Tee. We’re going to bed now, so you’ve gotta move.”

“Nooo...” Tee clung onto Fred’s arm and mumbled something inaudible into his shoulder.

“Hey, come on. I’m not a teddy bear,” protested Fred, but he couldn’t help laughing. “If you don’t get up, then Rose is gonna have to drag you.”

“Come on, Tee,” encouraged Rose. “If you come up now, we can talk more about your little snogging session.”

“...Okay!” agreed Tee.


	9. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

The next morning, Tee was shook awake by Katie Bell. “Whassa’ matter?” she groaned, rubbing her eyes.

“Wood’s just decided we’re gonna have an early morning Quidditch practice,” said Katie.

“What?” said Tee disbelievingly. “Why couldn’t he have decided this when we were all awake?”

Katie shrugged. “I dunno, but if you don’t hurry he’s gonna throw a strop. I’ll meet you in the common room; I’ve gotta go wake Ginny.”

Tee got up and dressed at top speed, then grabbed her broom. Rose was still fast asleep so she left her a note on her bedside table. Katie and Ginny were waiting for her in the common room. Ginny didn’t look particularly happy about her rude awakening either.

“Where’s the rest of the team?” asked Tee. “Don’t tell me Wood’s just picking on the girls.”

“Nah, he’s already dragged them down to the pitch,” replied Katie. “So let’s go.”

The three of them trudged slowly down to the Quidditch pitch. Well, Tee and Ginny did. Katie was several steps ahead of them. She was obviously used to being unexpectedly woken up for early practice.

“Slightly regretting this now?” Tee asked Ginny, though she was grinning.

“Just a bit,” laughed Ginny. “If they’d given me another hour’s sleep I wouldn’t mind so much. I went to bed really late last night.”

“Tell me about it,” agreed Tee. “We stayed up even later. I don’t even remember going to bed, I was that shattered.”

They found the rest of their team sat on a bench at the near end of the pitch. Fred and Harry were both tousle-haired and heavy-eyed. George was actually asleep against the wall behind him. Wood was stood in front of them next to a large portable board.

“Good morning, everyone,” greeted Wood brightly, as the girls sat down.

“Is it?” muttered Fred.

“Now as you all know, it’s our first match next Saturday,” announced Wood. “And it’s against Slytherin. So we need to get through as much practice as we can, because we know that Slytherin like to play dirty. So I’ve came up with some tactics...”

He began to explain the diagrams on the board. The whole team sank into a stupor. It was like being in History of Magic. Even Katie was subdued and she’d been wide awake just a few minutes ago.

“Stay there,” Tee whispered to Fred, resting her head on his shoulder. “I want something to lean on.” Fred didn't even bother to protest.

It took Wood over an hour to explain the tactics on the diagrams. By now George was snoring, Tee kept drifting in and out of sleep whilst still leaning on Fred and Katie was sat forward with her head in her hands – none of them could tell whether she was asleep or not.

“Right then!” Wood suddenly clapped his hands together. The others all jumped to attention, apart from George, who had to be nudged awake by Harry. “Let’s get started. On your brooms, everyone.”

The team grumbled and mounted their brooms. Wood was undeterred by their lack of enthusiasm. But even he could see that tiredness was affecting the practice. It was a wonder they were all managing to stay on their brooms without falling asleep.

Altogether, it wasn’t a very successful session. Everyone’s reactions were slower, the three Chasers kept dropping the Quaffle, Harry had absolutely no chance of finding the Snitch, and George very nearly hit Fred around the head with his Beater’s bat instead of the Bludger he was aiming for.

Wood wasn’t too happy. But he agreed that it was a bad idea to make them practice so early, unless they’d had a good night’s sleep.

Throughout the week, he kept them all busy during their free time with constant practice sessions. It didn’t seem to bother him that it had been raining every night, so they came back from every practice soaked to skin and, more often than not, covered in mud.

Before they knew it, it was the morning of their first match against Slytherin. Fortunately, it was the first dry day they’d had all week.

“You nervous or not?” Rose asked Tee over the breakfast table, fifteen minutes before the match.

“Not, actually. It’ll be a nice feeling to beat the Slytherins,” replied Tee confidently.

“And it’ll be good payback for Montague,” added Fred. Montague was one of the Slytherin Chasers.

“You ready to go down?” asked George, pushing away the remains of his cereal. “Wood’ll be having a barmy if we’re not there for his pre-match pep talk.”

“Yeah, and no-one wants that,” agreed Tee, pushing her chair back and getting up. She turned to Rose. “I guess we’ll see you after the match then.”

“Okay, good luck!” exclaimed Rose, giving her a hug. “I’ll be sat with your fan club. Have fun.” She gave both Fred and George a quick hug too. “Try not to murder too many Slytherins. You’ll only get detention.”

“Well, we can’t promise anything,” grinned George.

When they got down to the changing rooms, Wood was quite confident. Harry, Ginny and Katie were already there and they seemed pretty positive too.

“Hope you’re all ready for this, guys. This is one we definitely need to win,” announced Wood. “Especially since the Slytherins have already been engaging in dirty play.” He looked meaningfully at Fred. Everyone now had an idea of who had poisoned him.

“Don’t worry, we won’t let them win,” Tee insisted determinedly, her jaw set.

“Good, that’s exactly what I want to hear,” said Wood, satisfied. He looked at his watch. “Right, we’ve got about five minutes… Everyone into your robes!”

Once they’d all changed into their Quidditch robes, they collected their brooms and headed out onto the pitch. The stands were now full of students, donning clothes and banners of either red or green to show which team they were supporting.

“Okay, now I’m near terrified,” admitted Tee, seeing the hundreds of students in the stands. She suddenly felt very small.

“Don’t worry; you’ll be fine,” reassured Fred, both him and George clapping a hand on her shoulders.

“Well, good luck, everyone,” said Wood, also looking slightly nervous now. “Just play like you did in practice and we’re guaranteed a win.”

The Slytherin team was now on the pitch as well. Everyone mounted their brooms and kicked off into the air, apart from Wood and the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint.

A fifth year Gryffindor boy with dreadlocks called Lee Jordan was doing the commentary. “So for the Gryffindor team, we have Wood, Bell, Weasley, Carroll, Weasley, Weasley and Potter!”

Tee couldn’t help smiling to herself. Half their team was taken up by one family. This commentary could end up getting a bit confusing.

“Team captain, Wood, has had to replace two of his previous Chasers this year,” continued Lee. “Which is a shame as Angelina Johnson was rather attractive...”

“Jordan!” snapped Professor McGonagall, who was sat next to him in the commentator’s box. “Stick to the game commentary.”

“Sorry, Professor,” said Lee. “As I was saying, the last Chasers have been replaced by Ginny Weasley and Tia Carroll. Sure hope they’re up to scratch.”

There was an appreciative cheer from the crowd. Tee looked round and could easily notice the huge “We love Tee” banner at the front of the stands. And her eyesight wasn’t exactly brilliant. She groaned.

“And for the Slytherin team, we have Bletchley, Flint, Montague, Pucey, Derrick, Bole and Malfoy!” announced Lee. Tee was happy to hear at least half of the crowd booing as the Slytherin team were introduced.

“Captains, shake hands,” the referee, Madam Hooch, directed Wood and Flint who still remained on the ground. The two glared at one another and shook hands, a little harder than necessary. “Now mount your brooms. On my whistle...”

Wood and Flint mounted their brooms and kicked off. Wood retreated to his position guarding the goalposts, and Flint took his place next to his fellow Chasers. Madam Hooch released the Golden Snitch, which darted out of sight, and the Bludgers from the crate at her feet. She took out the Quaffle and held it up.

“Three... Two... One...” She gave a sharp burst on the whistle and threw the Quaffle up into the air.

A Chaser from each team darted towards it. Katie got there first and caught it neatly. She then passed it straight to Ginny.

“And it’s Bell in possession... Passes to Weasley... Passes to Carroll... Now back to Bell... Flint tries to intercept and fails... Bell still in possession... Passes to Weasley... She shoots... She scores!”

There was a huge roar from the majority of the crowd. Rose, Kayley and her friends could distinctly be heard singing.

“So that’s 10-0 to Gryffindor in just the first two minutes of the game!” announced Lee happily. “Pucey has the Quaffle... Passes it to Montague... Passes it back to Pucey... He shoots... And he’s missed! Bell takes the Quaffle and passes up-field to Carroll...”

A Bludger streaked towards Tee as she raced towards the Slytherin goalposts. She didn’t even need to duck, because Fred suddenly appeared at her side and swung at it hard with his Beater’s bat, knocking it in the other direction.

“How’s it going?” he shouted, grinning.

“Great!” Tee shouted back, as she threw the Quaffle to Ginny.

“Carroll nearly hit by a Bludger, but blocked nicely by one of the Weasley twins – can’t tell which... She passes the Quaffle to Weasley... Hang on, is anyone else getting confused by this?”

“Jordan!” warned Professor McGonagall. “If you’re confused by your own commentary, then maybe someone else should do it.”

“It’s okay; I was only joking, Professor,” insisted Lee. “Bell now has the Quaffle... She shoots... Damn, blocked by Flint... Wait! She’s back in possession! She shoots again... and scores!”

Again, there was a loud round of applause and cheering from the spectators. Within the next fifteen minutes of the game, Gryffindor had scored four more times and Slytherin still hadn’t scored once. There’d been no sign of the Snitch, so Harry hadn’t had much to do, apart from when a stray Bludger had pelted his way and he’d been forced to roll over in mid-air to avoid it.

“So that’s 60-0 to Gryffindor! Shame about the Slytherins though,” said Lee brightly. “They’d better pick up the pace a bit.”

Already annoyed that they were down by six goals, the Slytherins didn’t take too lightly to Lee’s comments. Derrick, one of the Beaters, vented his frustration by hitting the next Bludger directly at Wood. Luckily, Wood moved out of the way at the last second and it just missed him.

“Foul!” shouted Madam Hooch, blowing her whistle. “You do not hit Bludgers at the Keeper unless the Quaffle is in the scoring area. Penalty to Gryffindor!”

By now, the Slytherins were positively sour. Ginny took the penalty shot and scored again, bringing the total up to 70-0 to Gryffindor. The game resumed play.

“Montague’s in possession... Passes to Flint... Flint makes a reverse pass to Pucey... Back to Montague... Montague’s heading for the goal... He shoots... But no, nice interception there from Carroll!”

There was a particularly loud roar from the Gryffindors in the crowd as Tee streaked down the pitch towards the Slytherin goalposts.

“She passes to Bell... But it seems Bell wants Carroll to do the honours... Passes back to Carroll... She shoots... And yes, she scores! 80-0 to Gryffindor!”

Tee beamed. Her first goal for Gryffindor! She did a small loop-the-loop in celebration.

“Nice one, Tee!” said Fred, hovering near her. Tee grinned and gave him the thumbs up in reply.

Angry about her intercepting his shot, Montague suddenly grabbed Bole’s bat from him and hit a Bludger straight at her. Tee didn't even see it coming. It hid her hard on the side of the head, knocking her clean off her broom. Without stopping to think, Fred directed his broom down into a dive. Dropping his Beater’s bat, he was able to use both arms to catch Tee and pull her awkwardly onto his broom with him. Luckily, being a Beater meant he had good balance.

“Time out!” he shouted angrily, trying to hold her up. The broom was losing height since it wasn’t built to carry two people.

The Gryffindors in the crowd were booing and protesting angrily. Madam Hooch nodded and blew her whistle. The players started to descend to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Fred asked Tee gently, as he slowly guided the broom down.

“That depends...” mumbled Tee, blinking stars from her eyes. She was sat in an awkward side-saddle position on Fred’s broom and was in danger of slipping off. She clung onto his arm. “Is George with you?”

“No, he’s over there somewhere...” replied Fred, confused. George had flown off in pursuit of Tee’s abandoned broom, which was now drifting lazily through the air by itself. “Why?”

“Because I can see two of you.”

“Okay, that’s not good.” By now, they’d reached the ground. Fred dismounted the broom, one arm protectively around Tee’s waist to support her.

At this point, everyone else was on the ground as well. Katie and Ginny were arguing with several of the Slytherins and Wood was shouting at Montague for trying to sabotage his Chaser. Eventually, Madam Hooch had to blow her whistle again to get everyone’s attention.

“Penalty for Gryffindor!” announced Madam Hooch. “Only Beaters are allowed to handle the bats and direct Bludgers at other players.”

“That’s it? A penalty? He could have killed her!” shouted Fred. He would have gone straight for Montague if he hadn’t been acting as Tee’s crutch.

“I will also be speaking to his head of house after the match to make sure he gets detention for violent play,” added Madam Hooch.

Fred gaped. “But that’s still...”

“Drop it, Fred!” said Tee sharply, nudging him hard with her elbow.

“No!” objected Fred just as sharply, though he tightened his arm around her defensively. “This has gone too far now.”

“Do you want to get disqualified?” said Tee.

“Montague should be the one who gets disqualified,” pointed out George, who had now joined them, clutching Tee’s broom as well as his own.

“I’m fine, really,” insisted Tee, even though her head was pounding and she was leaning all her weight against Fred because she couldn’t see straight from dizziness. “Just leave it until after the match at least.”

She glared at Fred until he realised he wasn’t going to win. “You sure you’re up to playing?” he said reluctantly.

“Hell, like I’m gonna sit out!” replied Tee, forcing herself to stand up straight.

“So are we ready to resume play now that your conversation is over?” requested Madam Hooch, slightly sarcastically.

Tee nodded firmly and held her hand out to George for her broomstick. “Let’s go!”

Whilst everyone was climbing back onto their brooms, Fred tapped Harry on the shoulder. “Get the Snitch quick, Harry,” he whispered. “I don’t want her playing for long; she should go to the hospital wing.”

“Okay, I will,” promised Harry determinedly.

Harry was true to his word. After some intense Seeking, he managed to catch the Snitch – and end the game – within the next ten minutes. Which was an added bonus because the Slytherins still hadn’t had chance to even score.

“And Gryffindor have won the game!” announced Lee Jordan happily. “Two hundred and thirty to zero!”

The Gryffindor players all went to the changing rooms to change their robes. Rose appeared and then dragged Tee up to the hospital wing, despite her protests, followed by Fred and George. Thankfully, Madam Pomfrey said there were no signs of concussion or any other lasting damage – apart from a big bruise and likely headaches during the day.

The four of them spent most of the day sat down by the lake. The common room was full of Gryffindors celebrating their Quidditch victory, so they’d decided to go somewhere quiet instead for Tee’s sake.

“I think we should go tell McGonagall about Montague,” suggested Fred. He was leaning back against a tree with his legs arched. “Maybe then she’ll see that he’s got it in for us.”

“Meh. Involves moving. Can’t be bothered,” groaned Tee, rolling over and burying her face in the grass.

“Well, someone should,” said Rose reproachfully. “I’ll go.”

“And I will,” offered George, jumping up. “Come on, this way’s quicker...”

Tee looked up, bemused. “Well, they were quick enough to bugger off, weren’t they?”

“I dunno what he’s on about. They’ve gone in completely the wrong direction,” said Fred, looking confused. “If they wanna go see McGonagall, that way will take longer. They should have gone that way...”

Fred pointed in the other direction. Tee could see Sam and Jensen where he was pointing. Fred had obviously spotted them too. “Hey look, it’s your friend,” he teased.

“Oh God, hide me...” said Tee quickly, crawling under Fred’s legs.

Fred started spluttering through laughing. “What on earth are you doing?”

“Hiding. What does it look like?” laughed Tee. “Just stay there.”

“That’s probably not the best hiding place ever,” chuckled Fred. “Why are you hiding from him anyway?”

“I just don’t want him coming over and making a fuss about the match. Oh good, I think he’s going back up to the castle/” She crawled back out. “Sorry,” she grinned. “You’re just my prop.”

“Well, thanks,” said Fred sarcastically, though he grinned back.

“Do you reckon George was trying to avoid them?” suggested Tee.

Fred shrugged. “Dunno. He’s been acting weird all week.”

“Aww, is your best friend abandoning you?” teased Tee.

“Well, it means that you get stuck with me instead,” laughed Fred.

“Oh, dear lord...” Tee rolled her eyes.

“Shut up or you’ll end up in the lake,” grinned Fred.

“S’not a very nice thing teh say,” said a gruff voice, making them both jump. They looked round to see that Hagrid had ambled over – his hut not being far from where they were sat.

“Oh, hey, Hagrid,” greeted Fred, getting up to stretch his legs a bit. “Did you come to the match this morning?”

“I did. An’ that was some ruddy quick thinkin’ yeh did an’ all after that damn Montague. Well done, mate,” said Hagrid, pulling Fred into a crushing hug that momentarily stopped his breathing.

“Thanks, Hagrid...” gasped Fred, rubbing his ribs once Hagrid had released him.

“So yeh feel alrigh’ now?” Hagrid asked Tee.

Tee nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve hit my head harder than that before.”

“Well, I’m glad yeh okay,” said Hagrid, leaning down to pat her on the shoulder. He obviously didn’t want to be as rough, but Tee still felt like she was now going to have a new bruise. “So where’s the other two of yeh?”

“They’ve gone to see Professor McGonagall,” replied Tee.

“About Montague?” asked Hagrid. They both nodded. “I should think so too. Yeh need teh get all that sorted out.”

“It would be nice,” Tee agreed.

By the time Hagrid had left them, Rose and George still hadn’t come back. And Hagrid had been talking to them for at least half an hour. “I take it George’s so-called ‘shortcut’ didn’t work,” said Fred, who was sat down again beside Tee.

“No kidding,” said Tee. “Hey, whatever happened to you teaching me the secret passageways here?”

Fred gave her a particularly devilish grin. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve quite earned it yet...”

Tee punched him on the arm. “Shut up; yes, I have.”

Fred laughed. “Hang on, I think you’ve forgotten who’s in charge here.”

Tee raised her eyebrows. “And why are you in charge?”

“Because I’m taller than you,” grinned Fred. “Which also means I can do this.” He pushed her hard and she fell over sideways.

“Hey!” protested Tee, pulling herself back up into a sitting position. “Now that was just mean!”

“No... This is mean,” laughed Fred and he pushed her over again. He quickly got up.

“Don’t think you’re gonna get away with that, Weasley,” threatened Tee, scrambling to her feet.

“Watch me,” grinned Fred, starting to run down the grassy slope they’d been sat on.

Tee chased after him. Giving silent thanks to her friend Lauren back home – the sportiest person she knew – she dove into a rugby tackle, grabbing Fred by the legs and knocking him over.

“Ow! That was violent!” exclaimed Fred. He grinned suddenly. “Especially coming from someone so small.”

Tee hit him again. “I’m an invalid; you’re supposed to be nice to me!”

“Well, you should be nice to me unless you wanna go for a swim,” smirked Fred. They were now dangerously close to the water’s edge.

“Don’t you dare,” warned Tee.

“Then be a good girl or I will dare,” teased Fred, tickling her.

“No! Get off!” shouted Tee, laughing as she tried to push him off. She grabbed him by the wrists and forced him back onto the grass, climbing on top of him.

“God, we can’t leave you two alone for five minutes...”

Tee and Fred stopped wrestling and looked up. Rose and George were back, watching them with highly amused expressions.

“Five minutes? Try half an hour,” said Tee, getting up. “What took you so long?”

“McGonagall wasn’t there,” said George with a shrug. “So we waited around for a bit. Dunno where she was.”

“I’m surprised you two didn’t end up in the lake,” said Rose, looking meaningfully towards the water.

“Well, that was the original plan,” grinned Fred. “But she didn’t cooperate very well.”

“That’s because you’re a bully,” said Tee.

“Awww, you can’t bully my Tee!” said Rose, giving Tee a hug. “Poor kitty...”

“Kitty?” Fred and George both raised their eyebrows.

“Yeah, she’s my cat,” giggled Rose. “Have you never heard me say that to her before?”

They both shook their heads. “Why exactly is she a cat?” asked George, bemused.

“Because she used to have spiky hair and it was fun to stroke.".

“Everything about you just gets weirder and weirder,” Fred told Tee.

“Shut up,” she said, prepared to hit him again.

“I don’t care how weird you are, Kittykat,” grinned Fred. “I still like you.”

“Carry on calling me that and Rose won’t like you, because that’s her thing,” Tee grinned back.

“Too right!” agreed Rose.

XXX

That night, as usual, the four of them were the last ones in the common room. After still being unsuccessful in trying to find Professor McGonagall, instead they were suggesting what they’d like Montague’s punishment to be.

“We could always feed him to those giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest that Ron told us about,” suggested George.

“Or we could force feed him a whole cauldron of poison,” said Tee ruthlessly.

“Or give him some Amortentia and point him in the direction of Moaning Myrtle,” added Fred, grinning. Moaning Myrtle was a miserable teenage ghost who haunted the girls’ toilets on the second floor.

“Any one of those seems suitable,” said Tee, rubbing her head. It still hurt and she felt drained of energy now. She didn’t want to say so, but it was a bit obvious by the fact that she was slowly starting to lean against Fred again.

“I’m not a human pillow, y’know,” Fred pointed out when her head was resting on his shoulder.

“Yes.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Congratulations, I think you’ve found the world’s thinnest argument,” interrupted George with a yawn.

“Come on, Tee; it’s past your bed time,” said Rose, getting up out of her chair.

Tee smiled but didn’t move. “Whatever happened to you going to bed before me?”

“What happened is you got hit round the head and I didn’t. So come on.” Rose managed to pull Tee off Fred and point her in the direction of the stairs leading up to the dormitories. “Night, you two.”

“Night,” chorused the twins. Tee mumbled something sleepily that no one understood.


	10. Education Can Be Painful Too

The next several weeks seemed to fly by. Halloween passed and so did Bonfire Night. Before they knew it, they were in the last week of December before the Christmas holidays. The school was already decorated lavishly for the festive season.

“So what are you guys doing for Christmas?” George asked over breakfast one morning.

“Staying here,” said Tee straightaway.

Rose was surprised. Neither of them had mentioned it before. “I thought you would have wanted to go home. You kept saying you missed people.”

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna miss my first Christmas at Hogwarts,” Tee pointed out. “It’ll be cool!”

“Okay, who’s been feeding you sugar this early?” asked Fred.

Tee shrugged. “There’s sugar in my cereal...”

“So I’ve got a hyper Tee to look after today then,” laughed Rose.

“Lucky you,” said George sarcastically.

“It’s okay,” smiled Rose. “You have to make compromises when it comes to friends,” she added jokingly.

“Yeah, like when I had to watch ‘Tipping The Velvet’ with Ariadne,” interrupted Tee, making a face. “I didn’t like that at all."

“Was that the gay film?” asked Rose. Tee nodded.

“What?” said Fred and George simultaneously.

“Ariadne’s a lesbian,” said Tee brightly.

The twins couldn’t think of anything to say to that. Eventually George just asked, “Why’s it called ‘Tipping The Velvet’?”

“Because that’s what they call it when girls... y’know...” Tee sucked her finger and then made an upwards hooking gesture with it.

Fred choked on his orange juice. George had to hit him on the back. “You don’t hold back, do you Kittykat?”

“No way; that’s not as fun,” grinned Tee. 

Rose suddenly leant across the table and slapped Fred’s hand. “Ow!” yelped Fred. “What was that for?”

“She’s my cat; not yours,” said Rose, giving him an evil look.

Fred grinned. “Well, you’re gonna have to share now. I think it’s cute.”

“So does that mean you’re gonna stay for Christmas too, Rose?” asked George quickly.

“Yeah, I can’t leave my Tee!” said Rose, which made Tee beam happily. “What about you? Are you two staying?” 

“Yeah, we usually do,” said George. The bell rang, signalling that students should start moving to their first lesson. “Come on, we’ll be late for Transfiguration.”

In Transfiguration, they’d recently been backtracking to some simpler transformations, but this lesson they were going back for another attempt on changing teapots into tortoises – something that had failed miserably the last time they’d tried. Professor McGonagall gave them their teapots back. Whilst everyone was having another go, she started making her way around the classroom to inspect.

“You’d think she’d get the hint that we’re just not gonna get this,” muttered Fred.

“Then I suggest you hurry up and ‘get this’, Weasley,” barked Professor McGonagall, making him jump. She’d been standing behind him and none of them had realised. “Your OWLs are drawing closer, which means all of you need to pick up the pace a little.”

She carried on over to the other side of the classroom. Tee started giggling. “I thought you were actually gonna fall out of your chair."

“Oh, shut up,” grinned Fred, cuffing her round the head.

“I think she’s right though,” said Rose.

“I wasn’t that scared!” protested Fred.

“No, I mean Professor McGonagall,” said Rose. “We’re gonna have some trouble if we get to our exams and we still can’t transfigure a teapot.”

“Plus McGonagall won’t exactly be happy,” added Tee.

“Yeah and no-one wants to get on McGonagall’s bad side,” agreed George, flicking his wand at his teapot. To everyone’s surprise, the structure of the teapot started to change – it grew shorter and broader.

“Keep it up, Weasley,” encouraged Professor McGonagall, who was now passing their table to check on the people in front. “You’re finally making some progress.”

“It must be possible then if George can do it,” said Fred brightly.

“Shut up,” said George, kicking him under the table. “I bet you won’t be able to do it.”

“One sickle says I can,” insisted Fred.

George grinned. “You’re on.”

By the end of the lesson, Fred had to pay up. He’d managed to get the general body shape of the tortoise right, but it still had a spout for a head and a handle for a tail. Tee’s tortoise had no legs and Rose’s was the same baby pink colour the teapot had been and kept emitting steam. George was the only one who’d been successful.

“I think Transfiguration is probably my best lesson,” he said, pleased, as they made their way down to the greenhouses for Herbology.

“Yours looked more like a turtle though,” said Rose. “It had flippers instead of feet.”

“Don’t spoil my victory,” said George, giving her a poke.

When the whole class was there, Professor Sprout announced, “Today we’ll be re-potting Mandrakes. I know you did this in your second year, but they may well come up in your exam. So it’ll be good for you to brush up on your skills.”

She drew their attention to several large trays full of what looked like regular pot plants. Next to them was a cardboard box containing pairs of brightly coloured earmuffs.

“Now to re-pot the Mandrakes, you simply grasp the leaves firmly, pull and then put them into a fresh pot,” explained Professor Sprout. “Remember, you must wear earmuffs. Everyone grab a pair when you collect your Mandrakes.”

One by one, each student went up to get a Mandrake, an extra pot filled with fresh earth and a pair of earmuffs.

“How come we have to wear earmuffs?” asked Rose. 

“Haven’t you two re-potted Mandrakes before?” asked George. Rose shook her head. “Well, it’s so you don’t hear their cries.”

“Why? What happens then?” questioned Tee.

“You die,” replied Fred simply.

“What?” Tee knocked over her pot of fresh earth.

“You won’t die,” reassured George. “If it was an adult Mandrake, then you would. These ones would only knock you out. Fred’s just trying to scare you.”

“And it worked,” Fred grinned. He dodged the kick that Tee aimed at his shin.

“Earmuffs on, everybody,” announced Professor Sprout. “I want everyone to be fully protected when we start.”

“Make sure they’re on properly,” advised George, putting a pair on Rose’s head for her.

“I’m capable of doing it myself, but thank you,” smiled Rose. It was weird – with the earmuffs in place, she hadn’t heard a word she’d just said.

George had heard though. He just grinned and put his own earmuffs on. Tee and Fred both did the same. Once everyone else had their earmuffs in place, including Professor Sprout, she signalled for them that they were allowed to start. In no particular order, everyone started to pull the Mandrakes out of the pots. Though nobody could hear a thing through their earmuffs, they could clearly see that the Mandrakes were screaming as loud as they could. 

They looked like ugly brown babies and getting them into the new pots proved difficult. They weren’t too happy about being forced into new homes and were putting up a big fight, despite being so small. By the time everyone had managed to successfully re-pot the Mandrakes, it was the end of the lesson and they were all aching and covered in dirt.

Tee, Rose and the twins quickly went to clean up before they made their way back down to the Great Hall for lunch. They sat across from Kayley and her usual group of friends.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” greeted Tee as she sat down.

“Marie has an interesting theory about blowjobs,” announced Sumayyah.

“What?” spluttered the twins.

“Whatever happened to a friendly greeting?” said Rose, giggling at Fred and George’s reactions.

“So what’s the theory, Marie?” asked Tee calmly, like it was an everyday conversation.

“Well, I heard somewhere that if you actually blow on it, you can kill the guy,” replied Marie. “Something about air bubbles getting trapped and moving up to the brain.”

“I don’t think I actually want to hear this conversation...” said Fred, looking worried.

“I thought you liked listening to the things we talk about,” grinned Tee.

“Yeah, but I’ll give this one a miss,” said Fred.

“Me too,” agreed George quickly.

Whilst Fred and George tuned out of the conversation, the girls started to say something about umbrellas. “How did they get from talking about that to umbrellas?” muttered Fred.

“I honestly have no idea,” answered George.

They tuned back in, however, when Tee started demonstrating something with her hand. “Seriously,” she said, using her finger and thumb to form an ‘L’ shape. “Apparently it’s the same size from a guy’s thumb to the tip of his finger.”

Both twins copied the gesture and looked at their hands in disbelief. “You’re kidding,” said Fred, frowning. “That’s not right...”

“What? You wanna prove me wrong?” joked Tee, shuffling closer and putting an arm around his shoulders.

“How the hell did we get onto this conversation?” said Fred, laughing.

“You always wanna listen to our girl talk. Don’t I get any boy talk?” grinned Tee. The other girls were now all laughing at them.

“No way!” laughed Fred. “I don’t know anyone with a mind as bad as yours!”

“And I’m proud of it,” grinned Tee.

George hadn’t even been listening to them. He was still staring at his hand in confusion. Rose patted him on the head. “Don’t worry yourself about it too much,” she teased.

After lunch, they said goodbye to Kayley and her group before making their way up to the third floor for their double Defence Against Dark Arts lesson.

“Good afternoon, class,” came Professor Lupin’s usual friendly greeting. “We’re going to be working on Red Caps and Grindylows today, so I hope you’ve all had something to eat and are ready to do some practical work.”

Whilst people were arriving, Professor Lupin started to outline the lesson plan for them. They’d be working in the classroom on Red Caps for the first hour and would then be moving on down to the lake in the second hour to practice on Grindylows in their natural habit.

“Now... Red Caps originate from Northern Europe. They live in old battlements or any other place where blood has been spilled. You can easily repel them using most spells,” explained Professor Lupin.

There was a large crate at the back of the room with Snitch-sized holes in the top. There were a lot of banging noises coming from inside it. Professor Lupin made his way across to the box and lightly tapped the top of it.

“There’s about two dozen Red Caps in here,” he told the class. “I’ll let them out and you can all have a go at trying to fend them off. Feel free to use whatever spell you like – be creative, but humane. It’ll be a good experiment to find out which spells do and don’t work against them. Is everybody ready? Good. Then let’s start.”

He pulled the top off the crate and moved back. The Red Caps started to climb out almost immediately. They were small, dwarf-like creatures and each carried its own club. Once out of the crate, they began attempting to bludgeon the students with their clubs. They weren’t having much success though. They were all quite slow and also quite stupid. Which gave the class even more time to decide which spells they wanted to try out.

“This is easier than I thought,” said Fred, hitting two Red Caps with a leg-locking jinx. “They’re so thick; they just keep coming back for more.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’ve quite grasped that there’s a whole class ready to fire off spells if they try anything,” agreed George, dispatching one with a Confusion Charm.

After the next twenty minutes, the class had found out that, like Professor Lupin had said, most spells were effective in repelling the Red Caps. But they still kept trying to attack people. Professor Lupin explained that Red Caps had small brains and only one instinct – to attack and defeat. So even though they weren’t succeeding, they would still try. They’d even started climbing on the desks in their attempts – something which exceeded their usual mental capability. 

“I think this is probably my favourite lesson,” said Tee, flicking her wand at one of the Red Caps. “Expelliarmus!”

The Red Cap was knocked over backwards, but several more soon took its place. George offered some help, but whilst he was distracted, another Red Cap climbed up onto the desk behind them and cracked him hard over the head with its club. He keeled over onto the floor. Tee took care of the Red Cap, whilst Rose knelt down next to George on the floor.

“Are you alright?” asked Rose concernedly.

“I think so,” replied George uncertainly, gingerly touching his head. When he took his hand away, there was blood on his fingers. “Okay, that’s not good...”

“I’ll get Professor Lupin,” volunteered Fred, going off to fetch him. He returned with their teacher moments later.

“So which Weasley are you?” Professor Lupin asked George, smiling.

“George,” he replied.

“Okay. Just move your hand a second, George...” Professor Lupin instructed, inspecting his head. “I think you’d better go to the hospital wing just to be on the safe side. Would one of you like to accompany him?”

“I will,” offered Rose, still looking worried.

“Alright. Don’t worry if you don’t make it back for the next part of the lesson,” Professor Lupin reassured them. “I’ll see you on Friday anyway.”

George and Rose left, whilst the others carried on dealing with the Red Caps. The majority of the class hadn’t even noticed anything had happened. Professor Lupin ended the first part of the lesson early, giving them some time to get down to the lake. Nobody was particularly excited about the hands-on practice they were going to be getting. It was quite a frosty day and the lake was likely to be very cold.

“I’m sorry to say you’re all going to be getting a bit wet for this,” said Professor Lupin apologetically. The class groaned. “If you’d like to split into pairs and then choose who’s going to go in first.”

“I’ll let you do the honours,” Fred said to Tee.

“No way; you can go in first,” replied Tee, giving him a shove towards the lake. It didn’t really work though because she was so much shorter than him.

Fred grinned. “Is height becoming more of an issue, Kittykat?”

“Bugger off,” said Tee, annoyed.

Professor Lupin came over to them. “So who’s going in first?” he asked, having already checked with everyone else. Fred and Tee both pointed at each other simultaneously. Professor Lupin laughed. “Come on, Fred; be a gentleman.”

Fred grimaced and Tee laughed at him. “Loser,” she grinned.

“Okay, everyone listen to me...” Professor Lupin said loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Those who are going in first; I suggest you take off your robes and shoes – they’ll only weigh you down.”

Half the class started grumbling as they removed their robes and shoes – Fred, in particular. “It’s cold. I’d rather keep them on,” he complained, as he stripped down to his jeans and t-shirt.

“If I knew how to wolf whistle, I would,” teased Tee.

“Oh, shush, it’ll be your turn next,” Fred reminded.

“Is everybody ready?” asked Professor Lupin. “This task is about teamwork. It’s more difficult to spot Grindylows whilst you’re in the water, so your partners will be guiding you from the bank.”

“I’m doomed then,” joked Fred.

“I’m gonna smack you in a minute,” warned Tee.

“Okay, those of you going in should have your wands out,” advised Professor Lupin. “The rest of you be on watch. You may begin.”

Reluctantly, half the class waded out into the lake, wands in hand. Several of the male students let out a relentless stream of curse words – Fred being one of them. As soon as they were deep enough, dark shapes in the water started moving towards them. The students on the bank began shouting directions to their partners.

“There’s one on your left,” instructed Tee. “I mean right!”

“Oh great, I’m stuck with someone who doesn’t even know her lefts and rights,” groaned Fred, hitting the Grindylow with a deflective jinx.

“I know _my_ lefts and rights,” protested Tee. “But I have to reverse it for you.”

“Don’t get technical, just keep telling me where they are,” said Fred.

“There’s one over there,” directed Tee, giving up on verbal instructions and pointing instead.

Fred grinned. “Better.” He repelled it with the same Disarming Charm Tee had been using against the Red Caps in the first part of the lesson.

All the other students started off well too. But after a while, it was getting more difficult to see the approaching Grindylows with all the movement going on.

“Come on, everyone, you need to look sharp,” encouraged Professor Lupin, when a Grindylow clawed one of the girls across the face. Neither her nor her partner had even seen it coming.

Though that was easier said than done. The constant movement had stirred up the bed of the lake and clouded the water, making it impossible to spot the Grindylows. At least until they surfaced. One emerged suddenly right behind Fred.

“Fred, behind you!” Tee shouted.

Fred didn’t even have time to turn round. Long spindly fingers wrapped tightly round his neck. He choked and swallowed a mouthful of water in surprise. Struggling to stay afloat, his wand slipped out of his hand. Tee didn’t understand why Fred wasn’t firing off spells, but she knew something was wrong. Without hesitating, she whipped out her own wand and used the first spell that came to her head.

“Diffindo!” she cried.

The spell drew long gashes in the Grindylow’s fingers. It shrieked in pain and let go of Fred. Tee cringed – she definitely wouldn’t have chosen to use that spell if she’d had time to think about it.

“Sorry, Professor,” she apologised to Professor Lupin, seeing the reproachful look he was giving her. She knew she wasn’t the one supposed to be doing any spell work.

“It’s okay. You can all get out now,” announced Professor Lupin, seeing that everyone’s performance had dropped due to the conditions of the lake. “We’ll give the water some time to clear and then the others can have a go.”

Whilst the students were making their way out, Tee ran down the bank and actually into the shallow end of the water to get to Fred. “Are you alright? What happened?” she said in a rush, helping him back onto the bank.

“I dropped my wand,” he panted, still out of breath.

Realisation crossed Tee’s face. “So it’s still...”

“In the lake.” Fred nodded, answering her question. “It just took me by surprise. And I couldn’t swim properly with that thing hanging off my neck.”

Tee made a face. “Well, I’m certainly looking forward to my turn... Do you want me to get your wand for you?”

“What? While you’re in there?” Fred laughed. “I think you’ll have a bit of a hard time finding it.”

“No, I’m not quite up for that,” said Tee. She raised her own wand. “Accio wand!”

Fred’s wand suddenly surfaced out of the lake and zoomed across to them. Tee caught it neatly. “Aren’t I clever?” she grinned, handing it to Fred.

“If you say so,” said Fred. “Though that was a bit of a risky spell you used on the Grindylow. You could have slit my throat.”

Tee shuddered. “I have a very vivid imagination, so don’t,” she said seriously.

“Sorry,” apologised Fred, uncharacteristically awkward.

“I didn’t even mean to use that spell; it was just the first thing that came to my head,” explained Tee. “It’s not a nice spell to use on a living creature.”

“Well, rather it than me, right?” grinned Fred.

Tee couldn’t help smiling. “Right.”

Professor Lupin raised everyone’s attention again. “The water’s cleared up a bit now. Is everyone ready for the others to have a go?”

“Oh, the joys of getting even more wet,” said Tee sarcastically, looking down at her soggy shoes. She then laughed to herself. “And there’s no Rose for me to laugh at that with.”

“Err... what?” said Fred.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” reassured Tee, patting his arm.


	11. Bubbles, Explosions and Games

“So did we miss much in Defence Against the Dark Arts yesterday?” asked Rose when they got down to Care of Magical Creatures the next morning. She hadn't thought to ask before.

“Yeah, you missed all the fun,” joked Tee. She recounted the lesson’s events to Rose and George.

“You’ve been lucky lately, haven’t you?” George said to Fred.

“Very,” said Fred sarcastically. “I think things just like to strangle me.”

“And I just like to get hit on the head,” added George.

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” said Tee brightly.

Rose laughed, but George made a face. “If you say so.”

“I’ve hit my head so many times, I think I’ve become immune to it or something,” said Tee. In answer, Fred pulled a book out of his bag and hit her on the head with it. “Ow! Hey!” 

“Maybe not quite so immune,” grinned Fred.

“Bully,” Tee pouted.

“Aww, I’m sorry, Kittykat,” said Fred, putting his arm around her.

Tee gave him a shove instead. “Bugger off.”

“Fine,” said Fred, acting offended. “I’ll be Rose’s friend instead.” He tried to put his arm around Rose.

“No, you won’t. You’re bullying my Tee!” protested Rose, pushing him away as well. “Eww, and your hand’s all vuzzy...”

“It’s what now?” said Fred, looking at his hand in confusion.

“She means your veins,” explained Tee. “Rose doesn’t like veins.”

“Well, your hand’s ‘vuzzy’ too,” pointed out George, taking Rose’s hand and inspecting it.

“Well, your fly’s undone,” retorted Rose, pulling her hand away. 

“What?” George started and looked down. It wasn’t.

“Made you look,” grinned Rose.

“And what were you doing looking in the first place?” grinned George, starting to tickle her.

“Alrigh’, you lot?” greeted Hagrid, suddenly appearing beside them.

“Yeah, fine,” replied Rose, managing to push George away. “Just got two troublesome boys to deal with.”

“I’ll second that,” grinned Tee.

Hagrid looked bemused. “Well, I can assure yeh you’re not the firs’. I think every teacher in the school will agree with me on that.”

Fred and George looked quite proud. “We try our best, Hagrid” they assured him.

“Righ’,” said Hagrid, still wearing a bemused expression. He raised his voice. “Alrigh’ then, class, we’re gonna be startin’ work on Fwoopers today.”

He directed them all round to a small pear tree by the back of his hut, where a dozen large birds with impressive plumage were roosting – either orange, pink, lime green or yellow. They were all singing happily.

“Now Fwoopers come from Africa,” explained Hagrid. “They never stop singin’ an’ will eventually drive yeh insane. So they’re usually sold with a Silencin’ Charm, which yeh have to renew every month.”

“Well, they’d make a nice birthday present then,” muttered George sarcastically.

“People like retailers like Fwoopers ‘cos they lay real nice patterned eggs and their feathers can be used as fancy quills,” said Hagrid. “So we’re gonna be tryin’ to get some feathers off them today.”

Rose raised her hand. “Won’t they mind that?” she said, concernedly.

“Nah, Fwoopers are normally quite docile,” replied Hagrid. “Just tempt ‘em to yeh with some of this food here. Then yeh pat them so that the loose feathers fall out. They re-grow their feathers pretty quick, so don’t worry abou’ that. Now if you all wanna have a go, come get some of the food...”

The lesson turned out to be one of their easiest yet. Most of the Fwoopers were happy to fly down from the tree and eat the food offered to them. And they seemed to enjoy being fussed over, so didn’t pay any attention to the feathers fluttering down to the floor.

“They’re so cute. I want one,” said Rose wistfully, stroking the orange Fwooper that was now perched on George’s outstretched arm.

“You want one of every animal we see,” said George in amusement.

“Well, that’s because we always have lessons on nice animals,” replied Rose brightly.

“I know I wouldn’t want one. The singing’s already doing my head in,” grumbled Fred, who was still trying to coax down a rather stubborn green Fwooper from the tree. The Fwooper was having none of it, however – it just remained in the tree, singing happily.

“Maybe it’s a love it or hate it kind of thing,” suggested Tee, collecting the yellow feathers that had collected on the ground from the Fwooper she’d been feeding and petting. “I quite like them.”

“I definitely don't,” said Fred, getting increasingly annoyed with the green Fwooper. “Look, just shut the hell up or I’m gonna curse your beak off.”

“Fred!” objected Tee and Rose at the same time.

However, the Fwooper seemed to be perfectly capable of sticking up for itself. It finally swooped down from the tree and started to peck Fred repeatedly on the head. Tee, Rose and George all burst out laughing.

“Hey, it’s not funny!” protested Fred, ducking and trying to swat the Fwooper away. “Come on, I was kidding...”

Eventually, the Fwooper got bored of harassing him and, adding to Fred’s annoyance, returned back to the tree before he could even attempt to get any feathers from it.

“I’m guessing that’s the reason they’re sold with Silencing Charms,” grinned George.

The rest of the lesson passed by quite quickly. Though the same couldn’t be said for History of Magic. As always, Fred and George sunk back into their usual routine and dozed off. Even Tee and Rose couldn’t resist putting their heads down on their desks. The lesson seemed to be going even slower than usual.

Annoyingly, their lunch break – which followed – seemed to pass way too quickly and they were in their next lesson for Charms before they knew it.

“Good afternoon, class,” Professor Flitwick greeted happily, as usual. “We’re starting a new spell today. I’m going to show you how to use the Bubblehead Charm.”

“Bubblehead?” repeated Tee quietly. “That sounds like some kind of odd insult.”

Professor Flitwick, not having heard her, carried on. “The Bubblehead Charm can be used for breathing underwater, in gas-filled areas or any other place where you’d need a fresh supply of air ready.”

The lesson turned out to be quite an amusing one. Rose was the first to get the hang of the Bubblehead Charm, followed by Tee. “Wow, this is weird,” she said in amazement, patting the giant globe around her head.

Tee was currently hitting her head off the wall – the bubble meaning that she just kept bouncing back. “This is so fun; I can’t feel a thing!”

The twins started laughing. Neither of them had managed the charm yet. “It makes your face look weird,” Fred told Tee.

Tee looked offended. “ _Your_ face looks weird!” she retorted.

“Oh, charming,” said Fred, giving her a playful shove.

She staggered back slightly and her bubble knocked against Rose’s. It made a light clunk. She laughed. “That sounded funny.” 

She and Rose then started headbutting each other. Fred and George burst out laughing. It looked like two fish bowls having a fight. When the girls grew bored and stopped, they realised that half the class had been watching them.

“We probably look like astronauts on crack,” giggled Tee. Even Professor Flitwick was looking over, seemingly amused.

Rose laughed as well. She turned to the twins. “You two need to make a better start,” she said, giving George a poke. “It’s fun!”

“Ow. Okay, okay,” he said. And after several attempts, he managed to perform the charm successfully.

“Wow, a Charms lesson George can actually do,” teased Fred, who had also managed to do it.

Rose looked around the classroom, amused. Almost everyone had giant bubbles surrounding their heads now. “It looks like a diving school reunion,” she remarked.

“Except divers would actually have enough oxygen,” George pointed out, indicating Fred, who was now starting to choke inside his bubble. As Professor Flitwick had said, the Bubblehead Charm was supposed to provide them with a sufficient supply of air. Obviously, Fred hadn’t managed to do the spell properly.

“God, you’re hopeless,” said Tee, rolling her eyes. She gave his bubble a sharp jab with her wand and it burst with a loud bang.

“Thanks...” gasped Fred.

“Smooth,” smirked George.

“What?” said Fred loudly.

“I said smooth,” repeated George.

“What?” asked Fred even louder.

George looked confused, but Rose started giggling. “The bang must have impaired his hearing.”

“What?” repeated Fred. The others burst out laughing.

“And that’s why you’re not supposed to burst the bubbles,” said Professor Flitwick, who had appeared beside them. “They are quite powerful, therefore will be very loud when burst. You should gently remove them with your hands.”

Now bored of her bubble, Rose did as he said and pulled it off over her head. The slight resistance from it made a weird sucking noise as she pulled it off. “Eww,” she said, pulling a face.

Once it was properly exposed to the open air, the bubble started to disintegrate from the inside out. Tee took hers off and it did the same thing. “Now that’s pretty cool."

George tried to pull his off too, but it seemed to be stuck. “I can’t get mine off!” he said, tugging at it.

“It’s not exactly rocket science,” said Tee sarcastically.

“No, really... It’s stuck,” said George, trying and failing to pull the bubble off.

“Boys,” sighed Rose, trying to pull it off for him. Tee joined in as well, but it still didn’t seem to help.

“Oh well, you’ll have to stay as a spaceman from now on,” said Tee brightly.

“No, come on. Help me please,” begged George. “I can never do anything in Charms.”

Tee sighed. “Fine. Fred, do you wanna give us a hand?”

“A what?” shouted Fred.

“Oh, never mind,” said Tee. She grabbed hold of George’s bubble again. “Rose, you try grabbing onto George this time. Then we’ll both pull... Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” agreed Rose, positioning herself behind George and putting her arms around his waist.

“God, this is going to be painful,” grumbled George.

“Well, it’s not our fault you suck at Charms,” grinned Tee. “Ready, Rose? Pull!” They both pulled at the same time, but it still wasn’t working.

“Okay, stop. You’re gonna pull my bloody head off in a minute,” protested George.

“Just let us try one more time,” said Rose from behind him.

“I don’t like the fact that you seem to be enjoying this,” remarked George.

“It’s men needing women’s help,” said Rose. “Know your place.”

Tee laughed. “Let’s try again.”

The girls both started pulling again and this time, it worked. Only the added momentum meant that George and Rose fell back onto one of the desks and Tee crashed into Fred, who had stupidly been stood behind her. She grabbed onto his arm to steady herself. The bubble had melted and covered her hands in a thick gloopy substance.

“Gross, George,” said Tee, making a face. “This stuff is like glue.”

“Sorry,” apologised George, helping Rose to her feet.

“And thanks for getting it on my sleeve as well,” Fred said sarcastically to Tee, apparently having finally gotten his hearing back.

“Oh, sorry,” said Tee, attempting to pull her hand away. It didn’t seem to work. She tried again. It still didn’t work. The weird substance had stuck her hand to Fred’s arm. “Oh, balls...”

“What is it?” asked Rose.

“Look,” said Tee, holding her hand up, bringing Fred’s arm up as well. Fred looked quite unperturbed.

George and Rose both started laughing. “Well, this is going to be interesting,” said Rose.

“George, I’m gonna kill you,” said Tee. “I’ve got one hand covered in some glue crap and one hand stuck to another person!”

“Come on, we’ll go ask Professor Flitwick to unstick us,” suggested Fred.

“No, wait! The lesson’s nearly over and we’ve only got one class left after this,” George pointed out. “Can’t you just wait and sort it out later?”

“Why do you so badly not want Professor Flitwick to know you’ve messed up?” asked Fred.

“I just don’t want him to think I suck at Charms,” said George with an awkward shrug.

“But you do suck at Charms!” Tee pointed out.

“Thanks for the support,” said George sarcastically. “But do you think you could just... wait until later?”

“...Fine,” said Tee eventually. “But if Fred pisses me off too much, then I’m gonna blame you.”

In Divination, they’d started on tarot cards – something which Rose had gotten quite excited about. She was the only one though. As usual in their Divination lessons, the twins were messing about and Tee was getting frustrated that she only had one hand to use.

“Finally, we’re doing something worthwhile in Divination,” exclaimed Rose, looking quite pleased.

“Speak for yourself,” muttered George. He was holding several cards in a fan shape, like he was playing a card game. “This just isn’t fun.”

Tee copied what George was doing and shuffled some cards around in her free hand. She then threw them down onto the table and shouted, “Blackjack!”

The others started laughing, but Professor Trelawney suddenly came storming over. She’d obviously heard and wasn’t impressed. It didn’t help that she was already in a bad mood. “Go and wait outside the classroom!” she snapped at Tee. “I will speak to you after the lesson. I will not tolerate such immaturity.”

Tee half shrugged and got up. Fred followed suit, trying not to laugh.

“Not you,” Professor Trelawney glared at Fred. “Just her.”

“Well, we’re kind of a package deal right now,” said Tee, demonstrating by attempting to pull her hand away.

“Oh, for God’s sake!” snapped Professor Trelawney, whipping out her wand. She muttered a spell and the gluey substance dissolved away. “Weasley, sit down. Carroll, outside. Now.”

They both did as she said. Once Professor Trelawney had drifted away again, Fred said, “So the old bat can actually use real magic.”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen her use a wand,” George agreed.

XXX

The next two days passed as normal without anything remotely exciting happening. Tee managed to escape a detention from Professor Trelawney, so she played as good as gold in their lesson on Thursday. Eventually, it was Friday – the last day of the term before they broke up for Christmas.

For their first period, Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid’s idea of giving a festive lesson was to tie a Santa hat onto the creature he was showing them. However, the lesson that day was on a huge Rhino-like creature and the Santa hat didn’t make it look any less formidable.

“Right, this is called an Erumpent,” announced Hagrid. “This one’s a female. She’s a beauty, en’t she?”

Rose nodded in agreement, but the rest of the class just stared at Hagrid sceptically. Hagrid didn’t seem to notice and carried on in full flow.

“Now, Erumpents originate from Africa,” he explained. “They weigh over a tonne an’ their hide repels most spells an’ curses. The horn an’ tail are used fer potions, but they’re classed as Class B tradin’ materials.”

“Does that mean they’re dangerous?” asked one of the other Gryffindors.

“Nah,” replied Hagrid. “They won’t attack unless yeh provoke ‘em. Now I’ve got another two in the paddock round the back. I want yeh ter take it in turns ter collect some tail hair from ‘em. I’ll show yeh the best way ter do it.”

“Because this isn’t going to provoke them,” said Fred, rolling his eyes.

The lesson turned out to be disastrous. Montague and a group of his Slytherin cronies took Hagrid’s words as a challenge and spent over half the lesson goading and tormenting one of the Erumpent. Eventually, she snapped and started charging around Hagrid’s hut. Montague and his friends then fled from the grounds, as did the majority of the class.

“We can’t go!” protested Rose, grabbing both of the twins’ arms. “We need to help Hagrid!”

With the rest of the class now completely gone, the twins, Tee and Rose took their wands out and started firing off spells, trying to force the Erumpent back to the small paddock round the back of Hagrid’s hut where he’d been keeping them. Disturbed by their pack mate’s state, the other two Erumpent were getting restless and it was taking all of Hagrid’s efforts to restrain them from rampaging around too.

The rogue Erumpent managed to successfully back George up against the side of Hagrid’s hut. Fred, Tee and Rose stopped, unsure what to do.

“Whatever yeh do, don’t provoke her anymore!” yelled Hagrid, still trying to tie the other two Erumpent to the paddock gate.

“It wasn’t us that did it in the first place!” protested Fred.

“I know, but I’m jus’ tellin’ yeh to be careful,” warned Hagrid. “They can inject a liquid from their horns that causes things ter explode.”

“What?” cried George. Hagrid certainly hadn't mentioned that part before. “You have got to be kidding me!”

The Erumpent, seemingly even more aggravated by all the noise, suddenly charged. Rose screamed as George dove out of the way at the last minute. The Erumpent crashed into the wall, which suddenly exploded into pieces.

“Watch out!” shouted Fred, grabbing both Tee and Rose and pulling them out of the way of the flying pieces of wood.

George threw both his arms up in front of his face to shield himself, before disappearing into a billowing cloud of smoke. The smoke dispersed minutes later, by which time Hagrid had managed to calm down the Erumpent and lead her back to the paddock.

“Well, that was new,” said George, getting up and dusting himself off. He was perfectly unharmed.

“Are you okay?” asked Rose, as he came over to join them.

“Amazingly, yes,” replied George, checking himself over.

“Shame we can’t say the same for Hagrid’s house,” said Fred, looking pointedly at the gaping hole in the one wall. 

As they all looked, Hagrid’s giant but friendly boarhound, Fang, peeked through the hole and then crept out to see what was going on. Tee knelt down to stroke him and was repaid by him licking her face.

“Do you need a hand, Hagrid?” Rose asked. He was making sure the Erumpent was composed and secure in the paddock.

“No way,” said George straightaway, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. “You’re not going anywhere near those things.”

“Oh, come on, George,” protested Rose. “I appreciate you being nice but you don’t have to look after me.”

“Yeah, that’s my job,” smiled Tee.

“I’ve got ‘em sorted now anyway,” interrupted Hagrid. “They should be fine.”

“What about your house?” asked Rose.

“That’s no problem,” said Hagrid. “I’ll jus’ tell Professor Dumbledore. He’ll fix it for me in a minute. You lot had better go anyway. It’ll be time fer yeh next lesson.”

“Hopefully it’ll be less eventful than this one,” muttered George.

“It wasn’t that bad,” said Tee optimistically.

“Easy for you to say!” exclaimed George. “It was scary!”

“I didn’t think it was that scary. It was actually quite exciting,” insisted Tee. She then suddenly screamed and ducked behind Fred, making him jump.

“What?” he cried. He then noticed something white flutter past his face and started laughing. “After all that, you go and hide from a butterfly?”

“Well, I don’t have an irrational fear of Erumpent,” Tee pointed out, smiling sheepishly.

“To be honest, that would make a lot more sense,” teased George.

“...Leave me alone,” Tee sulked.

XXX

Unfortunately, their next period was Potions, so they were unlikely to have a good lesson. They managed to get through without too much torture and with just one essay to complete over the holidays. However, they couldn’t escape anything in Transfiguration, which followed, and were given a mountain of homework.

Eventually, it was lunchtime and they gratefully found some seats in the Great Hall. Continuing with their new tradition, they were joined by Kayley and her friends.

“I can’t believe how much homework we’ve got already,” complained George.

“So much for a relaxing break,” grumbled Fred.

“We haven’t had any homework yet,” said Marie brightly.

“Well, that’s because you’re stupid,” said Tee irritably.

“Shut up,” replied Marie. “Your face is stupid.”

“Your mom is stupid!” retorted Tee.

The twins started laughing. “And you’re both officially weird,” Fred pointed out.

“Your face is weird,” said Tee.

Fred paused for a few seconds. “Your mom is weird,” he laughed, catching on.

“Oh God, are we gonna have to suffer this all lunchtime?” groaned George.

“Not if you don’t annoy me, you won’t,” grinned Tee.

After lunch had finished, Tee, Rose and the twins made their way up to the third floor for Defence Against the Dark Arts and the fourth years traipsed outside for Herbology. Professor Lupin seemed to be in a happy, festive mood. The classroom was elaborately strung with red, gold and green paper chains and there was a pretty sprig of holly pinned to the front of his robes.

“Nice, aren’t they?” smiled Professor Lupin, noticing them looking up at the decorations as they walked in. “Some of my first year girls insisted on making them and decorating my classroom for me.”

None of them actually wanted to say that the paper chains actually looked tacky and rather childish. At least Professor Lupin was pleased with them. Instead, Rose complimented him on his new holly accessory.

Once the rest of the class had arrived, Professor Lupin announced, “Right! Since this is the last day before you break up for the Christmas holidays I thought we’d have a fun lesson instead.”

“And there’s the words you’ve waited to hear from a teacher your whole life,” Fred whispered happily.

“So forget Defence Against the Dark Arts for now,” smiled Professor Lupin. “Today we’re going to try out a game of trust. So I need you all to get into pairs...”

Tee automatically jumped to Rose’s side and announced, “Hello!” happily to her. Within minutes, the rest of the class had split into pairs as well. Professor Lupin brought out a box of blindfolds from underneath his desk.

“Now one person from each pair is going to have to stand over here and put on a blindfold,” explained Professor Lupin. “Their partner will then have to verbally guide them to the other side of the room.”

“Easy,” said Fred, not quite as quietly as before.

Having heard him, Professor Lupin said, “It’s not actually as easy as it sounds. It’s going to be confusing enough with everyone shouting out directions at the same time. Then you’re going to have to try and steer your partner around anyone who might get in the way.”

Several students started laughing. This did actually sound like fun. Half of the class took blindfolds from the box and lined up along one side of the room, whilst the others backed out of the way.

“Okay. Everyone start now,” instructed Professor Lupin.

The room was suddenly filled with noise. Like Professor Lupin had said, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Everyone had started by simply walking straight ahead, but with the confusion of voices filling the room, they got distracted one by one and were now criss-crossing in every direction.

“Turn to the right,” Rose encouraged Tee. Tee turned anti-clockwise back to the left. “No, to the right!”

“That is right!” protested Tee.

“No, it’s not; that was left,” insisted Rose.

“Oh, I’m so confused!” wailed Tee, feeling rather stranded in the middle of the classroom, unaware that she was actually surrounded by other people.

George was having similar problems. “Go left!” he directed Fred, who promptly wandered off to the right. “I said left, you idiot!”

“You said right!” objected Fred.

“No, I didn’t; I said left!” claimed George adamantly.

Fred paused, looking confused. “I have no idea whose directions I’m listening to!” he shouted over all the noise. He strayed further to the left and crashed into Tee, who was still hovering in the middle of the room.

“Ow! I don’t think I like this game,” grumbled Tee.

She still stuck to that opinion when they’d collided another two times – her getting her directions mixed up and Fred becoming confused by the different instructions being shouted from separate students. By the fourth time, Tee was really not impressed.

“God, Fred, I’m gonna kick your ass in a minute!” she threatened. “You’re not magnetically attracted to me or anything!”

When she heard a wave of laughter, she pulled her blindfold off. Fred followed suit. Since they’d been some of the last few people left who hadn’t managed to reach the other side of the room, pretty much all of the class had been watching them in amusement, including Professor Lupin.

“You’re a bit bad-tempered today,” George grinned.

Tee smiled sheepishly. “It's actually really frustrating when you don’t have a clue where you’re going and you have to rely on someone else.”

“Yeah, it’s very disorientating,” agreed Fred, though he hadn’t gotten quite as annoyed as Tee. He tossed his blindfold to George. “You can have a go now since you think it’s so funny.”

Once the blindfolds were passed between the pairs, everyone arranged themselves ready to start again. Professor Lupin, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying watching everyone, happily announced, “Go!”

Again, the classroom was near reaching chaos. Fred seemed to enjoy being in the controlling position and was deliberately misleading George. “Turn to the left... Now right a bit... No, back to the left some more.....” Poor George was pretty much wandering round in a circle and hadn’t even realised.

Tee realised what Fred was doing. “You’re such a bully. Do you know that?” Though she couldn’t help laughing.

“But it’s so much fun,” grinned Fred. “Especially when you’ve got people who are easy to bully. Like you.”

Tee pouted. “Well, you’re just mean. You bully me all the time.”

“It’s because you’re all cute and small,” said Fred patronisingly, patting her on the head.

Tee swatted him away. “Do that again and I’ll bite your hand.”

Fred grinned again. “Is that a challenge?” He tapped her on the head again. Tee grabbed onto his hand, but couldn’t get any further because he was too strong for her.

Meanwhile, Rose had been attempting to walk into the same bit of wall for the last minute or so. She hadn’t received any further instructions, so had thought she’d been going in the right direction. Obviously not. But Tee still wasn’t telling her which way to go.

Eventually, Rose just took her blindfold off. She looked around and saw Tee practically hanging off Fred’s arm – God knows what she was trying to do. She then noticed that George was stood still in the middle of the room, looking rather lost. She went across and pulled his blindfold off him.

“That’s why we’re not getting anywhere,” she said, pointing over to Tee and Fred.

George looked over to where she was pointing, just as Tee and Fred were progressing into having a shoving fight. Though it was pretty obvious Fred wasn’t putting much effort in, otherwise he would have easily knocked Tee over.

“Oi!” shouted George. “Stop flirting and pay attention to what you're supposed to be doing.”

They did both stop then. Tee just laughed and threw a spare blindfold at him. “I was actually sticking up for you, so leave me alone.”

“She’s trying to act all nice,” laughed Fred, patting her on the head again.

Tee automatically smoothed her hair back down for the third time. “I swear, if you mess my hair up one more time, I’m gonna kick you in the–“

Professor Lupin chose that moment to join them. “Now, now, let’s try and keep this suitable for all ages, Tee.”

“Sorry Professor,” apologised Tee. But Professor Lupin just smiled and she could have sworn he’d winked at her.


	12. Christmas Morning

The next morning, Tee and Rose had gone into Hogsmeade to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Since it was the first day of the Christmas holidays and only a few days before Christmas Eve, most people had gone home to stay with their families. The only other Gryffindors left were the Weasley family, Kayley and her friends, several third years and a small group of seventh years.

The girls had gone into Hogsmeade early to avoid any crowds. The twins had still been up in their dormitory when they’d left, so they’d assumed they were still asleep. Tee and Rose were actually quite enjoying it just being the two of them – something that only lasted for another hour before they ran into the twins outside Honeydukes.

“There you are! We wondered where you’d gone,” said George when he spotted them.

“You don’t need to keep tabs on us all the time, do you?” teased Rose. “We’re not as lazy as you; we didn’t want to wait around till you got up.” 

“I can see you’re taking the whole non-uniform for the holidays thing very seriously,” Fred said to Tee, raising an eyebrow at her clashing outfit.

“Totally!” replied Tee, ignoring the sarcasm. She was happy with her bright green electro t-shirt, grey skinny jeans and red leather boots. “I can finally wear something nice and colourful. Can’t say the same for you though.”

Both twins were still wearing their robes, since it was a cold morning and the ground was covered in frost. However, Tee was just wearing a thin black hoody decorated with rainbow stars. She didn’t even have it zipped up. 

“That’s because we prefer to be warm,” said Fred pointedly. “Aren’t you freezing?”

“Meh.” Tee shrugged. “It’s not that important.”

George laughed, shaking his head. “At least Rose’s sensible enough.”

“Yeah, I don’t go in for colours that much. Give me black on black any day,” smiled Rose. She was wearing a long black trench coat with buckles and spider-web flaps on the shoulders. The coat nearly reached the floor. “Though I have Tee to thank for the coat, since it’s actually hers.”

“So why don’t you just wear it yourself?” Fred asked Tee.

She looked down at the floor sheepishly. “It’s a bit long for me. It drags on the floor.”

Rose cut in before Fred could comment, “All she needs is some higher boots and she’ll be fine. Then I’ll just have to teach her how to walk in heels.”

“I’ve asked Father Christmas already,” grinned Tee.

“Well, you definitely won’t get any. You haven’t been a good girl,” teased Fred. “You’re too naughty.”

“So what do you wanna get for Christmas?” George quickly asked Rose, looking slightly alarmed that the conversation may be leaning towards the X-rated side. 

“I'm not really sure, to be honest,” said Rose with a slight shrug.

“Well, that’s helpful,” laughed George. Both he and Fred had agreed that girls were a bugger to shop for.

“I’d be happy with a nice car,” grinned Tee. “I love cars.”

“A car?” Fred raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that more something for guys to obsess over?”

“I don’t damn well care,” said Tee. “I’ve always adored cars. I don’t care if girls are supposed to like them or not. If someone bought me a car, I’d love them forever.”

“I think only a millionaire would be able to afford you a nice car,” George pointed out.

“That’s alright. I’d be quite happy with loving a millionaire,” grinned Tee.

“God, don’t set your standards too high. Give us normal guys a chance,” joked Fred.

Tee hit him in reply. “Be nice or you’ll be talking your way out of a present.”

“I’ll be good,” insisted Fred, putting on his best innocent look.

“Well, if you’re being good, then you won’t mind going away so me and Tee can have more private time,” teased Rose.

Fred looked interested. “Private time to do what?”

“Talk about how annoying you are and wonder why we’re still friends with you,” grinned Tee. She ducked as he tried to cuff her round the head. “Fine then. Come on, Rose, let’s bugger off.”

“Are you serious?” said George, not sure if she was joking.

“Totally,” said Tee brightly. The boys both looked a bit put out. “God, anyone would think you couldn’t live without us.”

Fred suddenly grinned. “We can’t.” He then got down on one knee in the middle of the street. “Oh Tee, say you’ll be mine...” In response, Tee pushed him over. He jumped straight back up, still grinning. “Is that a no?”

“It’s a never,” replied Tee, feeling a little embarrassed that quite a few people were now watching.

“That was a bit harsh, love!” shouted a passing middle-aged man.

Seeing her friend was now quite embarrassed, Rose linked arms with her and announced, “Right! More private time for us.” She then added to the twins, “We’ll come and find you later,” before dragging Tee off towards another shop.

They spent over another hour trailing round the shops and stalls, buying Christmas presents for people. They caught up with the twins again near the Shrieking Shack and joined them for a drink of warm Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.

Afterwards, they happily headed back up to Hogwarts, laden with quite a few bags of Christmas goodies. The girls spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping the majority of the presents they’d bought. George lay on one of the sofas, watching them for a while before falling into a doze in front of the fire. Fred just hung around trying to annoy them until Tee threw a very heavy book at him. Then he left them alone.

XXX

A few days later, it was finally Christmas. Rose was woken up by Tee diving onto her bed, much the same way as on her birthday. They had a mini fight on the bed before Rose said, “I wish there was someone else who could suffer your early-morning hyperness.”

“Are you suggesting we go wake up the twins?” asked Tee.

“Well, I would, but I don’t think we’re allowed in their dorm,” said Rose.

“No, I think we are actually,” replied Tee. “I’m sure someone said girls are allowed in the boys’ dorms, but they can’t come into ours.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now,” agreed Rose. “Hang on... I think I told you that!”

“Well done for forgetting then,” grinned Tee. “Either way, they’re gonna regret the day that rule was made.”

They were the only ones in their dorm now. The other girls had gone to visit their families for Christmas. Leaving their piles of presents for now, they made their way down into the common room and then up the other stairs towards the boys’ dormitories.

The twins were still asleep when they got there. They were the only ones left in their dorm too. Nearly all of the Gryffindor house had gone home for the holidays this year. Rose glanced at Tee, trying not to giggle. She then ran forward and dove onto George’s bed. Tee shrugged and took a running leap onto Fred’s. Both the boys woke up, startled, within moments of each other.

“What are you doing in here?” asked Fred in surprise, giving Tee a push off the bed.

“Waking you up,” said Tee brightly, clambering back onto the bed. “It’s Christmas!”

“I couldn’t care less right now,” groaned Fred, dragging the covers over his head, only to have Tee pull them back off again. He gave her the evil eye. “You’re the devil.”

“Of course,” grinned Tee. “I’m driving the bus to hell and you’ve got a first class seat.”

“Lucky me,” said Fred sarcastically, fighting to get the covers back.

“Why are all boys so lazy?” asked Rose, though she looked quite comfortable herself. She was now lying beside George, though on top of the covers. Annoyingly, the boys seemed to have bigger beds than they did.

“Not all boys. Just us,” said George. He still looked a bit dazed from the unexpected wake-up and hadn’t even moved.

“I beg to differ,” said Tee, who had given up the fight for the covers, but had managed to steal Fred’s pillow instead. “All the guys I know are lazy. There’s Matt who never goes to bed later than ten o’clock. Then there’s Robbie who can fall asleep in two minutes flat, no matter where he is...”

“Hang on,” said Fred, sitting up. “Here’s one we don’t know about.”

“Very funny,” replied Tee, hitting him with the pillow. She looked like she regretted saying anything.

“Come on,” grinned Fred, grabbing the pillow back off her. “Who’s this Robbie?”

“Someone I really don’t wanna talk about,” Tee answered shortly. Her mood had abruptly changed.

Fred stopped, confused. She obviously meant it. He looked over at Rose who shook her head and mouthed ‘don’t’ at him. George just shrugged. He glanced back at Tee, who stared determinedly back. This person had genuinely upset her. “Whoever he is, I’m sure he’s not worth it,” he said sympathetically.

Tee couldn't help but smile. “You’re right there.” She didn’t look like she completely believed it though.

Rose jumped in to help, in order to avoid any further awkwardness. “Come on, Tee... Let’s get our presents and bring them up here. Then we’ll all be able to open them together.”

“Okay,” agreed Tee, jumping up off the bed.

“You carry on though. I’ll come help in a sec,” said Rose.

Tee nodded. She knew what Rose meant. She was giving Tee an escape route whilst she quickly explained. Tee was grateful. She didn’t really care who knew the whole story, just as long as she didn’t have to keep hearing it herself. She hurried off to get their presents.

“What was all that about?” asked Fred the minute she’d left the room. “I didn’t mean to upset her; I was only playing...”

“I know,” said Rose. “Don’t worry, she won’t blame you. It’s just a bit of a sore subject still.”

“So what happened? Is he an ex boyfriend or something?” questioned Fred.

“Not really. Robbie's like her 'what if' guy. She was pretty much in love with him for the last few years,” explained Rose. "I'm not sure if you'd know, but Kayley and her friends used to hang around with another girl up until this year called Catrina. She has long hair and a lot of piercings."

"I think I know who you mean," said George. "The one with the bad dye job?"

Rose nodded. "That's the one. She used to be good friends with both Tee and Kayley, so she spent a lot of time at their house. But then she slept with Robbie a couple of months before school started. They've been going out since."

“Didn’t she know Tee liked him?” asked Fred, surprised.

“Oh, she knew.” Rose was clearly annoyed. “She just didn’t give a damn about anyone other than herself.”

“Well, she sounds like a wonderful person,” Fred scowled. His tone suddenly matched Rose's.

George frowned. “I thought she was going out with that Jamie in our year?”

“She probably still is,” said Rose bitterly. “She was still going out with him when she slept with Robbie, so I wouldn’t put it past her to cheat again. He's a Muggle, so he'd probably never know Jamie even exists.”

“No wonder Tee gets upset about it,” commented Fred. “Some friend she is.”

"At least Kayley and the others stopped hanging around with her," said George.

"Still doesn't seem a fitting enough punishment," Fred disagreed. “I might just go find this girl and say something to her. Or let her boyfriend know what he's really letting himself in for.”

“Don’t,” Rose warned sharply. “Tee doesn’t mind mentioning Robbie in passing, but if she thinks about him more, then she gets upset about it. If you kick off, you’re only gonna make it worse for her.”

They didn’t get to say anything else because Tee came back at that moment, carrying a towering stack of presents.

Rose laughed. “You didn’t have to carry them all at once! You could have made more than one trip.”

“I thought this would be easier,” Tee grinned sheepishly, her previous awkwardness had clearly vanished. She dropped a few packages on the floor. “Oops! Maybe not...”

Amidst laughing, Tee struggled over and tipped the presents onto George’s bed, next to Rose. She then went back to fetch the ones she’d dropped. Rose started separating hers and Tee’s presents, whilst the twins retrieved their own presents from the foot of their beds. Tee settled down on the floor between them.

“Present time!” she announced, ripping one open without even looking at the label.

Rose laughed, leaning over the side of the bed to retrieve the wrapping paper. “Maybe you should read the label first.”

“Good point,” admitted Tee, grabbing another present and actually checking the tag first. It was from Rose. She tore the paper off to reveal a pair of big sparkly silver boots. “Wow, thanks, Rose!”

She jumped up onto George’s bed to give Rose a hug. The bed wasn’t really big enough though, so she ended up nearly falling on her. Rose just laughed.

“Okay, get off now,” teased George, giving Tee a slight push. “My bed’s not quite big enough for three.”

“Geez. If you two want some alone time, you only have to say,” joked Tee, rolling back onto the floor again.

Rose balled up the wrapping paper she’d picked up earlier and threw it at her, before selecting a present of her own. “That one’s from me as well,” Rose told Tee, pointing.

Tee proceeded to opening that one. Not much later, the floor was covered in a mass of assorted wrapping paper from all four of them. Rose had bought both the twins stylish broomstick servicing kits, whilst Tee had gotten them big bags of Zonko’s goodies and Muggle books labelled ‘Office Dares’, promising them to be very funny and that she’d explain anything they might not understand.

Rose had received a big bottle of her favourite Sun, Moon and Stars perfume from George – after some secret advice from Tee – and a book from Fred on both magical and non-magical animals. So far, from Tee she’d had a pair of silver spiral earrings and a giant blue penguin teddy. She was now in the process of unwrapping the third.

“I was really chuffed that I managed to get this for you,” beamed Tee in excitement.

She’d now moved back onto Fred’s bed after being swamped by all of the wrapping paper. She was currently wearing a large blue and white, star-print cowboy hat from George – part courtesy of Rose, who knew how much she liked them. She was also hugging her other present from Rose – a stuffed lion toy from her favourite Disney movie.

“I’m very intrigued,” claimed Rose, ripping the last of the paper off the large rectangle-shaped, cardboard-thin present. It was actually a huge piece of cardboard-type material, though with a moving poster on one side. It was of one of Rose’s favourite actors. “Oh my God!” she squealed, scrambling up and wading through the wrapping paper to give Tee a hug. “But he’s a Muggle! How the hell did you get a moving poster of him?”

“Magic,” grinned Tee, hugging her friend back.

It was difficult to find unwrapped presents now among the sea of paper. Tee salvaged what seemed to be her last one. This one was from Fred. "If this is like a kama sutra book now or something, I’m gonna beat you round the head with it,” she joked.

The joke was pretty much lost, however, since neither Fred nor George had a clue what kama sutra was. It did cause Rose to have a minor giggling attack though. When Tee finally tore the last of the wrapping paper off, she was looking at the bottom of a box. She flipped it round to the side with the plastic window that showed what was inside. It was a perfect model of an orange Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder – her favourite car.

Tee gaped at Fred. “It’s my favourite car...” She guessed Rose must have told him. They’d obviously been swapping information on each other. “Fred, it’s gorgeous.”

“It’s the best I could do,” grinned Fred. “I couldn’t quite afford you a real car.”

“I don’t care; I love it!” exclaimed Tee. She crawled up the bed to give him a hug.

He actually looked quite embarrassed, but he pushed it away by saying loudly, “Move your stupid hat out the way.” He took it off and gave her a one-armed hug, kissing her on the top of her head. “Sorry if I upset you earlier.”

Tee suddenly laughed. “I really couldn’t care less right now,” she said, giving him another hug. “Merry Christmas.”

Fred grinned again. “Since I got you a car, does that mean you’re gonna love me forever?”

Tee pretended to think about it. “I can love you for a bit.”

Fred laughed. “I guess I’ll settle for that then.”

“Tee, I think you’ve missed a card here,” said George, rescuing an envelope from the wreckage.

Tee sat up and caught it as he tossed it to her. She opened it in interest. There was a card inside, along with quite a bit of money, though none of the others could see that. She opened up the card and read it in delight.

“What is it?” asked Fred.

“Oh it’s just from Kayls, Marie and Sumayyah,” said Tee casually without elaborating. Though when the twins weren’t looking, she mouthed to Rose ‘tell you later’.

Once they’d all finished the process of unwrapping, Tee and Rose carted their presents back to their own dorm, leaving the boys to clear up the mess of paper. After they’d got dressed, they went back down to the common room. Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah were now there. Shabana had both gone home for Christmas.

Tee bounded over to them and gave them all a hug. “Thanks, guys.”

“It’s okay,” beamed Kayley.

“You’ve gotta let us come with you though,” insisted Marie.

“Sure!” agreed Tee.

“You still haven’t told me what was in that envelope,” said Rose reproachfully.

“Oh yeah...” remembered Tee. Typically, as she was just about to tell her, Fred and George ambled into the room.

Rose made a face. “I could really not like you two sometimes.”

“Well, we could really not like you for leaving all the mess on our floor,” said Fred, sticking a large, pink decorative bow from one of the presents on top of her head.

“Meanie,” pouted Rose.

Tee giggled. “You look like a present.”

“Especially gift wrapped by me,” grinned Fred. He playfully shoved Rose towards George. “Here you go, George, you can have Rose for Christmas.”

George laughed. He caught Rose to stop her from falling over. “How did you know that’s what I asked Santa for?” he joked, eyes twinkling.

“So what are you guys doing today?” asked Sumayyah.

“We were gonna go see Hagrid,” said Rose. “I got him a new Monster Book of Monsters because his one escaped.”

“Yeah and I got some biscuits for Fang,” added Tee.

“Well, I guess that’s where we’re going too then,” said Fred, amused.

George shrugged. “I guess it’s fair since he made us all those rock cakes.”

“And he got me and Tee some owl treats for Oli and Olwyn,” Rose pointed out.

“Why? What are you guys doing?” Tee asked Sumayyah and the others.

“We’re going to make snowmen!” beamed Kayley.

Tee raised her eyebrows. “With what snow?”

“Oh my God, Tee, have you not looked outside?” said Sumayyah.

Tee paused. She hadn’t actually. “Are you serious? It’s actually snowed on Christmas?” She ran to look out of the window. The grounds outside were cloaked in white. “Oh wow, it’s actually snowed on Christmas!”

“You really are like a child,” laughed George. 

“So what? Come on, let’s go!” exclaimed Tee, ready to run straight outside.

“Hang on, you can’t go outside dressed like that,” frowned Fred. She was wearing just her grey skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and her new silver boots and cowboy hat. “You’ll freeze.”

“It’s alright,” insisted Tee. “I’m in winter colours. I’ll blend in.”

“Tough,” said Fred, giving her a shove towards her dormitory. “Go get your cloak.”

Tee made a face. “Since when did you become sensible?”

“Since you became more stupid,” grinned Fred, giving her another push. “Now go.”

Eventually, they were all ready in more appropriate clothing for the weather. Kayley and the others had already gone out, since they’d been ready before. Rose collected the presents to take to Hagrid’s and they were finally ready to go.

Tee bounded ahead of them, much like she had when going out to the Quidditch pitch for the first time for Chaser tryouts. That seemed like ages ago now. Since then, they’d already played Ravenclaw and they had an upcoming match against Hufflepuff after the holidays ended. 

“Come on, Tee, let’s go to Hagrid’s first,” Rose called after Tee, who was now trying to make as many footprints as possible in the fresh snow. “Then you can play in the snow as much as you want.” Tee obediently followed.

“She always listens to you,” said Fred. “She’s like a puppy or something.”

“No, she’s my cat,” corrected Rose, patting Tee on the head.

“What?” said Tee, who clearly hadn’t been listening.

“Never mind,” laughed Rose.

They were at Hagrid’s for quite a while. When they left, it was snowing again, which Tee was happy about. She was just making her own little so-called snow dance when a mass of snow suddenly hit her in the face.

She looked round and glared at Fred, wiping snow away. “You’re gonna regret that, Weasley.”

Fred just laughed and took off down the snowy slope. Tee stumbled after him – snow wasn’t the best kind of weather for her new boots. Rose and George watched, amused, and followed slowly after them. Fred was still running when his feet suddenly slipped forward and he fell bum first back into the snow. Tee, still in chase, didn’t have time to stop and fell headlong over him.

Rose and George raced across the snow after them, roaring with laughter. Tee couldn’t stop laughing either. “I’m sorry, but you just looked so funny!”

Fred laughed too. “Well, yours was hardly the most graceful fall either.”

“Yeah, but at least I can blame you for that,” Tee pointed out.

Rose suddenly went whizzing past them, though she managed to stay on her feet. She realised that they were all now on the edge of the lake – the outskirts of it were covered in snow, hiding what was lurking underneath.

“It’s icy!” she exclaimed.

“Well, yeah, we’re on ice,” said Fred in a patronising tone, struggling to his feet. He grinned down at Tee and refused to help her up. Tee pouted and kicked at his trainer sharply, knocking his foot out from under him. He fell back onto the snow once more.

George laughed and slid artfully over to Rose. “Fancy a spin?”

“I’ve never been ice skating,” Rose admitted hesitantly.

“Don’t worry; it’s easy,” reassured George, taking her hand. “Come on. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

Rose giggled and consented. “Well, I guess I can’t refuse an offer like that.”

As George led Rose round the ice, she started to pick it up. He was right – it wasn’t that hard at all. It felt almost as natural as walking. As she gained more confidence, she grew daring and began to pick up speed, forcing George to go faster too.

But she then got overconfident and lost her balance. Determined to keep his promise, George dragged Rose back up with such force that she crashed into him and knocked them both over onto the ice. Rose laughed. Lucky for her, George had broken her fall. “I thought you said you wouldn’t let me fall?”

“I just acted as your cushion!” protested George. “I think that pretty much shows my dedication.”

“I’ll let you off then,” smiled Rose, glancing around quickly and then kissing him on the nose.

George grinned and reluctantly sat up, pulling Rose up with him. He’d quite happily have stayed there, but he could feel the cold seeping into his back. “You’d better hope neither of them saw that or they’ll have a field day.”

“Trust me; they’ve forgotten we’re even here,” said Rose pointedly.

George followed Rose’s gaze to where Tee was currently plunging Fred’s head into a snowdrift. “Point well made.” 

By the time they’d all got back up to the common room, dried off and warmed up, it was time for them to go down to the Great Hall for Christmas dinner. There weren’t many Gryffindors left at their table now. There wasn’t even enough to take up a third of the table.

Once everyone had arrived, Professor Dumbledore made a short celebratory speech and then they were allowed to dig in. As usual, Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah had joined Tee, Rose and the twins for the meal.

“Do you think we should have another party in the common room later?” suggested Kayley, attacking the cut of turkey in front of her.

“There’s not even twenty of us left,” George pointed out. “Is there much point?”

Both Tee and Marie looked outraged at the thought. “Party time!” insisted Marie.

A look of dawning suddenly crossed Tee’s face. The others fought the urge to laugh at her. It was so obvious she’d thought of a plan that she may as well have had a little light bulb blinking above her head. “I’ve just had a brilliant idea!”

“You don’t say,” laughed Fred. “What is it?”

“The prefect’s bathroom,” said Tee excitedly.

“Yeah, okay,” grinned Fred. “Just give me a time and I’ll meet you there later.”

“Very funny.” Tee hit him in response, whilst the others laughed. “I mean we should have a pool party!”

The others did seem impressed with the idea. “Oh yeah! They’ve got those giant baths, haven’t they?” said Sumayyah.

“How would we get in though?” reminded George. “They’ve got a password.”

“Easy. We just ask one of the prefects for it,” resolved Tee.

Fred patted her on the head. “That would work if we actually had any prefects left, Kittykat.”

Tee glanced up and down the table and frowned. He was right. “Oh.” She scratched her head thoughtfully. “I suppose maybe we could ask one of the other houses to join us? Then we could get the password off another prefect.”

“Yeah, but which house?” asked Rose. “Not Slytherin obviously.”

“Hufflepuff would probably be the best bet,” decided Fred. “Ravenclaw are goody two shoes. They might give us away.”

They all glanced across at the Hufflepuff’s table. There were even less of them than Gryffindors – only about a dozen. “Do you know who any of their prefects are?” questioned Tee.

“The only one I know is Diggory,” shrugged Fred. “He’s there though. You could ask him.”

“Who’s that?” asked Tee, looking round again.

“How can you not know?” Sumayyah looked outraged.

“He’s the really gorgeous one!” added Kayley. Rose, Sumayyah and Marie all nodded in agreement.

“I still don’t know which one you mean,” said Tee, still craning round to look.

“The one second to the end!” said Kayley impatiently.

“With _bronze_ hair,” emphasised Marie.

Tee made a face. “What, the nancy boy? He’s not hot.” She suddenly received hits from the other girls, barring Rose, and looked round in surprise. “Ow! What?”

“He is hot!” insisted Kayley.

“Okay, if you say so,” surrendered Tee, rubbing her arm. “You don’t all need to attack me.” She then added to Fred and George, who were laughing, “And you two can shut up.”

“You just have crap taste, Tee,” stated Sumayyah.

“I do not!” protested Tee.

“Yeah, you do,” said Sumayyah. “You like that guy from the car insurance advert and he just has a weird face.”

“No, he has a nice face!” objected Tee. Kayley made a weird face at her, which was apparently supposed to be reminiscent of the guy from the advert. “Oh, you’re all just bullies!”

“Man, girls are weird,” claimed Fred, still looking amused.

“And it’s you boys that make us so weird,” said Tee, smacking him lightly round the head.

Fred caught hold of her hand, grinning. “You know you like it really.”

“Hey, no flirting at the table,” interrupted George.

“Why, are you jealous?” teased Tee, pulling away from Fred.

“Nah, you’re putting me off my food,” joked George. Tee threw a balled-up napkin at him in response.

As the food began to dwindle, so did the students. Once they’d eaten as much as they could, most students started to make their way to their common rooms to relax, though some went back outside to resume snow sports.

As Cedric and his group of friends got up to leave, Fred nudged Tee and said, “Go follow him then. See if he wants to trade the password for a party invite.”

Tee stared at him. “Why me?”

“Because you’re a girl,” explained Fred. “So he’d be more likely to tell you.”

“That’s a crap excuse,” said Tee. “And I’m also not the only girl here, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Fine. Rose, you do it,” instructed Fred.

“No way,” objected Rose. “I wouldn’t know what to say.”

“What about any of you guys?” George asked Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah.

“We’ll go over with Tee,” offered Kayley.

“But we’re not asking him,” added Sumayyah.

“Looks like you’re nominated by everyone,” Fred told Tee with a grin. “Come on, you’re the only girl here apparently confident enough to do it.”

“Fine, I’ll go,” Tee relented. “And I get the screaming fan girls as back-up.” She reluctantly rose from her seat and followed Cedric from the hall with Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah trailing behind her.

“Why aren’t you going as well?” Fred asked Rose, who’d remained at the table.

Rose shrugged – Fred missing the quick glance she shot in George’s direction – and just said, “Can’t be bothered.”

“Hey, Cedric!” Tee called to him when they were all out in the main corridor. Cedric and his friends all turned around simultaneously. It was a bit spooky actually. Kayley started giggling and Tee tried hard to ignore her.

“Yeah?” said Cedric expectantly, retracing his steps back towards them.

His mates followed him. “Hey, cowgirl,” one with blonde hair and a cheeky grin said to Tee. She was still wearing her new hat and boots.

“We’ll come back to that,” Tee told him, recognising promise. She turned to Cedric. “How much of a goody prefect would you say you are?”

He laughed, not sure of the question. “What do you mean exactly?”

Kayley groaned. “Not the best way to go about it, Tee.”

Tee ignored her again and carried on, cutting straight to the point. “We’re planning a pool party in the prefect’s bathrooms tonight, but none of our prefects are here. If you tell us the password, then Hufflepuff are welcome to join.”

Cedric thought about it, an amused expression on his face. His friends seemed enthusiastic about the idea. The girls waited for an answer. Tee hoped he wouldn’t say no and then tattle on them to a teacher like a goody-two-shoes prefect. But instead, he held out his hand and said, “Deal.” Tee beamed and shook his hand happily. “The password’s ‘pine fresh’.”

“Cheers. Guess we’ll be seeing you tonight,” smiled Tee. She then turned back to the blonde guy. “So do you like cowgirls then?”

Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah dragged her away before she could even get an answer.


	13. Pool Party

The pool party was an immediate success. Tee’s iPod was set up once again, though right in the corner, far away from the water. The main bath was huge – bigger than your average swimming pool and definitely big enough to accommodate the remaining Gryffindors and the dozen Hufflepuffs. The twins had gathered a supply of food from the kitchens and everyone had generously donated alcohol. Empty and half empty bottles littered the room.

“We may have to assign cleaners,” said Hermione Granger to no one in particular.

Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah were crowding round Cedric and one of his friends with curly hair in the shallow end; Rose and George were sat on the side talking quietly between themselves; Tee was making out with Sam again in the deep end; and Fred was having fun with all the different taps, occasionally bombarding Harry and Ron with thick foam.

“Now this is a _real_ party!” exclaimed Marie, who’d now managed to coax Rose over into their little Cedric-based group. George had gone to join Fred in foam-and-bubble mayhem.

“I’m not sure if I agree with the whole drinking-till-you-puke, making-out-with-everyone ideal though,” said Rose.

“Who’s drinking till they puke?” asked Cedric’s curly-haired friend.

“No one yet, as far as I know. But it’s only a matter of time with this much alcohol around,” stated Rose.

“It’ll probably be Sum first,” laughed Marie.

“Hey, why me?” protested Sumayyah.

“Well remember that time we came to yours? You drank till you made yourself sick,” Kayley pointed out. “And _I_ had to clean it up!”

“Sorry, Kayls,” apologised Sumayyah. “At least I’m not as bad as Marie though. She’s drunk every day and going at it with any guy she sees.”

Marie laughed at the over-exaggeration. “Well I’m not as bad as Tee!” she exclaimed, pointing out Tee and Sam.

Cedric and his friend laughed. “That’s a shame. I think Tom quite liked her,” said Cedric.

“Trust me; it isn’t a permanent thing,” reassured Rose, resisting the urge to laugh. “It wouldn't surprise me if she's snogged him as well by the end of the night.”

“Is this a bit of a regular thing then?” asked George, who had reappeared at Rose’s side.

“It’s what you do at parties,” said Marie casually. “Well, what _we_ do anyway. It's just a bit of fun.”

“And you don’t go in for that much?” Cedric asked Rose directly.

Rose went very red and forgot what her answer would be. She came to her senses after a few moments and realised what an idiot she must look, so she shook her head furiously.

Before Cedric could say anymore, George interrupted. “Come on, Rose, come for a swim.”

Rose let herself be led back down further to the deep end, trying not to look back at Cedric. She registered with a grin that Tee was now sat at the side of the bath, talking to Jensen. Sam had probably gone to cool off.

“You’ve turned my buddy into a man-whore,” Jensen had said with a grin when he’d sat down beside Tee.

“Why; does he make out with everyone?” asked Tee.

“No, it’s only when you’re around,” laughed Jensen. “You’re a bad influence.”

“Only when there’s a party and/or alcohol around,” grinned Tee, toasting him her nearly empty bottle. “He doesn’t take it seriously, does he?”

“No, don’t worry,” reassured Jensen. “Like I said, it’s just you that turns him into a man-whore.”

Tee laughed. “Good-o!” She drained the last of her cherry vodka mix. “So what about you? How come you’re not pursuing Rose anymore? I’m sure she enjoyed it.”

Jensen smiled. “I don’t think her boyfriend would be very happy about that.”

“Boyfriend?” Tee repeated, frowning. “What boyfriend? Rose hasn’t got a boyfriend.”

“Sure she has,” said Jensen, pointing out George to her.

“George? No, they’re just friends,” explained Tee simply. “Everyone knows the four of us always hang out together.”

“I dunno about that,” said Jensen with a shrug.

Tee didn’t get the chance to think anymore about it though, because she was suddenly pushed roughly into the water. Surfacing, it didn’t take a genius to figure out the culprit. “Fred Weasley, I‘m gonna kick your ass!”

She scrambled out of the water and over to where Fred was stood, still laughing at her. She tried to wrestle him towards the edge, but her attempts were futile. It only resulted in her getting pushed back in again.

“You’re a fat bully,” complained Tee after surfacing again, though she couldn’t help laughing. Laughing didn’t help when she was trying to clamber out of the pool again – she was failing miserably this time.

“No, you just overestimate yourself, Kittykat. You forget you’re like half my height,” grinned Fred, taking her hands and hauling her out of the pool. He looked at her in surprise. “You’re really light.”

Tee laughed. “Well, I should think so if I’m only half your height.”

She suddenly noticed a golden opportunity. They were pressed quite closely together and he was still holding her hands. Gripping his more tightly, she simply let herself fall backwards into the pool, pulling him in with her.

“Okay, now that was just rude,” laughed Fred, brushing wet hair out of his eyes.

“It’s called payback, dear,” Tee grinned.

Rose and George had now joined them in the deep end. “Having a breather, Tee?” asked George.

Tee smiled sheepishly. “Just for a bit. What about you, Rose? I saw you hanging around Cedric for a while.”

Rose blushed in front of the boys. “That was Marie's fault – she dragged me over there.”

“I had to go rescue her,” joked George. “Hey, you fancy a piggyback, Rose?”

“Okay!” agreed Rose happily. She climbed onto George’s back, twining her arms around him. “We should have a piggyback race.”

Fred raised his eyebrows. “And who’s the other piggy?”

“Take a wild guess,” said Tee, jumping up onto his back and wrapping her arms round his neck.

“Hey, try not to strangle me, okay? I get enough of that in Herbology,” grumbled Fred.

“Aww, you know you like having me on top of you really,” teased Tee.

“Tee!” giggled Rode. “Let’s keep this to a PG rating – there’s third years around.”

“Oh. Sorry, little threebies,” Tee called to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were now sat at the side. They all looked quite amused.

“Let’s get this race underway,” said George.

Hermione agreed to referee the race and counted them in before they ploughed down to the shallow end. The Cedric groupies quickly waded out of the way, shrieking. Cedric and his friend laughed and casually stepped aside, away from the manic splashing. George and Rose reached the end of the pool first. Rose slid down into the water happily and George did a mocking victory dance.

“You can let go now, y’know,” Fred said to Tee, who was still clinging to his neck.

“Aww, you’re not being a sore loser, are you?” teased Tee.

“Of course not,” said Fred, his eyes twinkling. “I’m just not used to having a heavy lump like you on my back.”

“Cheeky sod!” said Tee. “Say that again and I’ll kick your shorts off.”

Fred laughed loudly at that. “You really are a frightening little monster.” He tipped her off into the water. “I think I’ll need more alcohol to cope.”

“Yeah, you’d better walk away!” called Tee, laughing. She couldn’t think of a following threat so she ended with, “Get me another one of them cherry things!”

“You not had enough yet?” asked George, looking amused.

“Not at all!” replied Tee with a grin.

“Trust me; Tee can really hold her drink,” laughed Rose. “She almost never gets drunk!"

“Never ever?” George looked quite surprised.

“Only once,” Tee admitted. “We were on holiday. I made my friend go with me for a kebab at three in the morning. Then I ran through a bunch of sprinklers on the way back.”

George laughed. “Sounds like a fairly good drunken story.”

They were then joined by Cedric, his curly-haired friend and blonde Tom from earlier. Kayley, Marie and Sumayyah followed closely behind. It was as if Cedric was Hogwarts’ very own pied piper.

“Do you want a piggyback ride back down to the deep end?” George offered Rose quickly.

“Sure,” Rose smiled knowingly, climbing back up to his shoulders again.

She allowed herself to be carried back to the deep end. Next time she looked back, Cedric was talking to the girls, his hobbit-like friend was looking thoroughly ignored, and Tee was flirting with Blondie in the corner.

“I am actually amazed she’s not drunk,” said George, meaning it.

“Trust me; it happens a lot,” laughed Rose. Marie was now talking to Curly-Bop, who looked happy that he finally had some attention. “Them two will probably be at it later as well.”

“What about Kayley and Sumayyah? Are they like it as well?” questioned George.

“Sometimes. But not as bad,” replied Rose. “They’ll probably fight for Cedric though.”

“And you _really_ don’t go in for this whole thing?” enquired George.

Rose shook her head firmly. “I wouldn’t kiss _just_ anyone.”

George seemed fairly pleased with that answer. “So, my little mermaid... How about a swimming race?”

Feeling pleased, both with the mermaid comment and the fact that she was a confident swimmer, Rose replied, “Prepare to lose.”

After several races – all of which Rose won – she climbed out of the pool to dry off a bit, whilst George went to fetch some drinks. Tee’s iPod was now blowing out some bizarre electro song.

“Tee, I’m changing the song. I have no idea what this is,” Rose called out in no particular direction.

She looked around, but Tee was nowhere to be seen. Blondie, Curly-Bop and Cedric were chatting casually in the pool and the girls had finally broken the following and were sat down with some drinks. Shrugging, Rose turned back to Tee’s iPod. She flicked through a fair few songs before finding one she liked – ‘Consequence’ by The Notwist. George rejoined her with two glasses. Rose’s glass was only small. He’d remembered what she’d said before about only being allowed a little alcohol.

“Are you in charge of music now then?” grinned George.

“Just for a bit,” said Rose. “Tee’s disappeared. And I can’t resist this song!”

George looked around. He found a small ledge and put the drinks down. “You wanna dance?”

“Always,” smiled Rose, taking his hand.

They’d only just taken position when Tee suddenly reappeared. “Oh my God, I love this song!” she exclaimed.

“Well, it is your iPod,” laughed Rose. “And welcome back.”

“Do you wanna dance with Rose then?” George asked Tee reluctantly. “I can take the next dance.”

Tee kinda did want to dance with Rose – she was the only one who didn’t seem to mind that she was totally lame at slow dancing – but she could also see that, surprisingly, George seemed to really want to dance with her. She knew she was butting in.

“Nah, it’s okay,” she said. “I’m rubbish at slow dancing anyway. You guys go ahead.”

She turned around and bumped straight into Fred. “What do you want now?”

“To dance,” said Fred brightly. “Come on.”

Tee made a face. “I’m not kidding; I’m crap at slow dancing. I never know what to do with my feet.”

“Take them off,” joked Fred.

“Very funny,” said Tee sarcastically, attempting to push past him. He caught her arm and dragged her back. “Okay, why are you pushing this? You’re a bit drunk, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little,” admitted Fred, grinning. “You said you love this song, so you know you wanna dance.”

Tee hesitated, biting her lip. “I really am rubbish, y’know.”

“You can dance on my feet then and I’ll do all the work,” suggested Fred.

Tee narrowed her eyes. “I’m not a child.”

“You act like one,” teased Fred.

“No more than you do,” grinned Tee, reluctantly allowing him to pull her up onto his feet.

“Well, we’re even then,” laughed Fred.

“God, shut up, you two,” said Rose jokingly, peeping at them from over George’s shoulder. “You’re spoiling the song!”

When the song finished, it switched straight to Calvin Harris and Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Dance Wiv Me’. Rose laughed and pulled away from George. “Okay, now I can’t dance to _this_ ,” she exclaimed.

Tee, on the other hand, cheered at the song change. “Now this is more like it!”

“Sit this one out?” George suggested to Rose, as Tee and Fred moved onto grinding.

“Yes please,” said Rose hurriedly.

They went and sat down on the little ledge where George had left their drinks. “I can’t even watch them!” he laughed, indicating the dancing duo.

Rose giggled. “I bet she couldn’t do that dancing on his feet!” After a few minutes, they couldn’t quite ignore the distraction. “Let’s go sit with Kayley and Sumayyah,” she suggested. George nodded quickly. They collected their drinks and went to join the girls, leaving the dancers behind.

“Did you get scared?” asked Sumayyah, as Rose and George sat down with them.

“Very. He’s no brother of mine,” joked George.

“So you’re the good twin then?” laughed Kayley.

“Good isn’t really the right word,” teased Rose.

“So what’s happened to the Diggory groupies?” asked George. “It’s all kinda fell apart, hasn’t it?”

“Well, Marie abandoned us for that hobbit-looking guy,” said Sumayyah.

“Told you,” Rose said to George with a smirk.

“Then me and Sum were fighting for the position of ringleader,” giggled Kayley.

“Told you again,” grinned Rose.

“Oh shush, you,” said George, giving her a poke.

“So are you guys enjoying the party?” asked Sumayyah, refilling her glass of vodka and Coke.

“Definitely!” said Rose enthusiastically. “Though not as much as _some_ people.” She looked back, but the song had finished and Tee had vanished again. “Where does she keep disappearing to?”

“You probably wouldn’t wanna know,” laughed Sumayyah. “We caught her with Wood earlier.”

“Oliver?” enquired Rose. Sumayyah nodded. Rose resisted the urge to pout ‘no fair’ in front of George.

“And you’re sure she’s not drunk?” George pressed Rose.

“Nah, she’s not. It’s a Usual Suspects thing,” explained Kayley, interrupting. Seeing George’s blank look, she added, “That’s what our little friendship group was called.”

“Yeah, before Skankface destroyed everything,” said Sumayyah with malice.

“Err... who?” George looked blank again.

“Catrina,” replied Kayley. “That’s our not so affectionate nickname for her.”

“Ah, right,” said George. “She seems to wreck a lot of things, doesn’t she?”

“You’re not kidding,” said Kayley. “Tee hates her with a passion.”

“And it’s probably why she still goes for the whole random kissing thing,” added Sumayyah. “Our group used to do that at parties all the time. So Tee probably just doesn’t want to let the skank ruin everything for her.”

“I guess that makes sense,” agreed George. “In a weird way.”

“Poor Tee,” sympathised Rose. She’d never quite understood the appeal of it personally.

As if her ears were burning from the conversation, Tee reappeared again. “You guys talking about me?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yes and I want to talk _to_ you now,” said Rose, giving her a small push. “Pool time. Now.”

Tee shrugged and let herself be directed over to the now-empty shallow end, out of earshot of the others. “What’s up?”

“As if you snogged Oliver! That’s not fair!” laughed Rose, though she didn't really mean it.

“Oh I'm so sorry, Rose! I forgot you liked him as well,” Tee apologised profusely. “He’s good though. Why don’t you go snog him too? He's still around somewhere.”

“No way!” protested Rose.

“Don’t worry; he’s quite drunk,” reassured Tee.

Rose laughed. “It’s not that... I just can’t.”

“Why not?” enquired Tee. “It’s only for fun.”

Rose shrugged, looking suddenly awkward. “I dunno. I just don’t really do that sorta thing.”

Now it was Tee’s turn to look awkward. “I’m being a bit of a slag, aren’t I?”

“Of course not.” Rose shook her head. She then laughed and patted Tee's still damp hair. “You just know how to party.”

Tee grinned. “Well, when you put it like that...” She laughed. “So you’re not gonna go for it with Wood then?”

Rose made a face. “I might have been tempted... but no.”

“But what?” asked Tee, curious now.

“It’s nothing,” said Rose quickly, realising she’d made a mistake in saying so. “Now you go find someone new to make out with. Don’t let me stop you.”

Tee laughed. “Yeah, okay, that’s fine with me!”

“If there’s anybody fit left for you to find,” added Rose with a grin.

“Don’t worry; I’ll find someone,” Tee grinned back before disappearing off again. Rose wasn’t left alone for long though. She was soon rejoined by George.

“What was all that about?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing,” said Rose innocently. She didn’t really want George to know about the Wood thing. She hoped Tee wouldn’t mention it. “I was just telling her to slow down a bit,” she lied.

“So she’s finally drunk?” said George.

“Oh, yeah,” said Rose, playing along. This seemed like a good alibi for if Tee did happen to mention anything. “If she says anything, don't pay her any mind. She won’t admit she’s drunk.”

“Okay then,” laughed George. “Hey, have you seen Fred anywhere?”

Rose shook her head. “How come?”

“He said he was gonna get me a drink, but he’s buggered off,” replied George. “He’s probably sat in a corner somewhere drinking it by himself.”

Rose laughed. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Though I think he may have already had enough.” 

“You’re not kidding,” agreed George. “He’s been like super hyperactive tonight.”

Rose laughed again. “Well, you’re doing a great job of looking after him,” she said sarcastically.

George grinned. “I’ll step in if he takes it too far.” He glanced around. Everyone else seemed to be occupying themselves in some way or another. “And what are we doing talking about my brother when we could be doing this?”

Without warning, he swept her up into his arms, bridal style, and spun her around. Rose giggled. “Well, maybe I wanted to talk about your brother some more,” she teased. In response, George tipped her back into the water and she disappeared under the surface. She came back up, pushing hair out of her eyes. “Hey, I was only playing!”

“So was I,” grinned George, his eyes twinkling.

“Yeah, but that was just mean,” protested Rose, pretending to sulk and fighting to hide the silly smile she always got whenever _he_ smiled.

“Aww, I’m sorry,” apologised George, putting his arms around her. “I’ve been very, very mean and I promise I won’t ever do it again.”

“Apology not accepted,” Rose giggled, pulling away and splashing water at him.

“Oh, so that’s the way we’re going to play, is it?” smirked George, splashing water back.

“No!” laughed Rose, wading away from him and climbing out of the water. She quickly found Kayley and Sumayyah and hid behind them. “Help, I’m being bullied!”

The girls laughed. “Well, you were asking for it,” Sumayyah pointed out. “We were watching you and it looked like you started the splash fight.”

“I did no such thing,” said Rose, looking offended.

“She did so,” retorted George childishly. He hadn’t bothered to get out and was now leaning against the side with his head on his arms.

Kayley interrupted before Rose could reply. “Before this turns into a very long and petty argument, do you know where Tee is?”

Rose shook her head. “She’s vanished again. Why?”

“I wanted her to come be my dancing buddy,” said Kayley. “Because Sumayyah’s being miserable.”

Rose looked around the room. She couldn’t see her anywhere. “Well, she’s not in here. Where did you find her earlier?”

“She was out in the corridor,” answered Sumayyah, giving Kayley a nudge for the ‘miserable’ comment. “She’s not with Wood now though. He’s over there.”

“Trust me; there’s plenty of other guys she could be with at the moment,” laughed Rose. 

She looked around again. Not Sam... He and Jensen were dancing around like idiots by the iPod. Not Blondie either – he was now talking to George. Curly-Bop was still being occupied by Marie; Harry, Ron and the other third-years had formed their own little gathering near the party snacks; and a few of the remaining Hufflepuff boys were larking about in the pool.

What other guys were there? Apart from Cedric? He’d also disappeared. Rose suddenly registered this with surprise. Tee had made it clear she didn’t like him anyway. But right now, Rose wasn’t actually sure just how close to or past drunk Tee was.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she mumbled quickly to Kayley and Sumayyah, striding straight over to the door.

She was absolutely burning with curiosity. Tee was a total hypocrite if she was doing what she thought she was. She couldn’t wait to find out so she could tease her about it. Rose hit the door open and let it shut behind her. She looked left down the corridor... Nobody. She looked right...

True to Rose’s guess, Tee was mid kiss. But it wasn’t Cedric she was kissing. Rose stopped in her tracks and stared. She could almost hear an imaginary screaming sitcom audience in her head.

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting that!” she blurted out, unable to think of any suitable accusations to shoot their way.

“What? She started it,” blamed Fred.

“Did not,” protested Tee.

Somewhere in Rose’s brain, it registered that it was kind of ironic that this was extremely similar banter to what she and George had been saying only moments before. Only this situation was a lot weirder.

“Exactly how drunk are you two?” exclaimed Rose.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Fred grinned devilishly, winking at her.

Too, too weird! Rose thought to herself. She felt like she shouldn’t really have been that surprised. Tee and Fred had always been too flirty for words. But she was still surprised nevertheless. And she couldn’t ignore the fact that Fred was talking to her so casually whilst still being wound around her best friend. Or the fact that this was how Tee may think about her if the situation had been reversed and she’d been the one caught out. She really wasn't ready for that yet.

“Actually, no,” decided Rose, disappearing back through the door. She went straight over to sit at the edge of the pool, near to George.

“Did you find her?” asked George, looking up from his conversation with Blonde Tom.

“No,” lied Rose, trying hard once again not to smile. If she’d overreacted, then he’d definitely be worse.

After parting on much closer terms with the Hufflepuffs – it turned out Cedric had left earlier after eating a dodgy jam tart, which Rose strongly suspected George for – the Gryffindors all trailed back to the common room in small groups. The idea had been Hermione’s, since smaller groups were less likely to be caught by a teacher. And it didn’t help that half of them were drunk.

They all sat in the common room and chatted for a while, giving everyone a chance to sober up. Then one by one, they started drifting off to their dormitories. Fred was one of them, which was definitely a first. The remaining third years then followed.

Rose and George were conversing very quietly. Tee was sat opposite, half watching them and half watching Sam and Jensen, who were lounging by the fire. She’d remembered what Jensen had said before about Rose and George, so she was watching their every move. Did their heads really need to be almost touching just for them to chat? Had they always been like this and had she just never noticed before? After a while, she came to a decision of sorts and stood up.

“I’m going to bed,” she announced.

“Goodnight!” came the chorus of the remaining stragglers.

Tee headed over towards the stairs to the girls’ dormitories, then glanced back around. Nobody was looking, so she quickly darted up the boys’ staircase instead. She crept over to the only bed that was occupied. Luckily, she knew that Fred and George were the only ones in this dorm over the Christmas holidays.

“Fred,” she whispered. “Are you awake?”

“I am now,” he grumbled, rolling over and pulling the pillow over his head. It took him a few moments to properly register who was actually in the dorm. He removed the pillow and sat up. “What are you doing in here? Christmas is over now.”

“I wanted to talk to you where George can’t overhear,” replied Tee, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Sure you did,” grinned Fred, acting his usual self. “Just admit you came up here because you hadn’t had enough of me.”

Tee snatched the pillow away and hit him with it. “Don’t you want to hear my plan?”

Fred raised his eyebrows. “You have a plan? What for?”

“Rose and George,” replied Tee. “Haven’t you ever noticed how they just disappear off together sometimes? Or how they always seem to be sharing some kind of private joke?”

Fred frowned – a sign that he was thinking. “I never really thought about it before. But I can kinda see what you mean...” He scratched his head. “So do you think they’re secretly going out or something?”

Tee shrugged and lay back on the bed, across Fred’s feet. “Maybe. Though I don’t understand why Rose wouldn’t tell me... I think we should spy on them for a bit and find out for ourselves.”

“I hope you’re not planning on sleeping there,” Fred pointed out. “It’ll look really dodgy if George comes up and you’re asleep on my bed.”

“I’m only lying down!” protested Tee. “And were you even listening to me?”

“Spy on George and Rose, yeah, yeah. Don’t worry; I got it,” promised Fred, sticking his tongue out. “It sounds like it could be fun.”

“You would think of it like that,” laughed Tee. She suddenly froze when she heard something. “...What was that?”

They both fell silent and listened. Footsteps. On the stairs. It must be George.

“Oh crap! What do I do?” panicked Tee, jumping up off the bed. “If he finds me up here with you, it’s gonna look...”

“Dodgy?” Fred finished helpfully.

“Well, yeah!” exclaimed Tee. “I know I like the occasional snog...” She ignored Fred’s scoff at the word ‘occasional’. “But I don’t want people thinking I’m a total skank! I’m a virgin and I’m quite proud of that, thanks!”

“Err... okay?” said Fred, surprised. That was a little more information than she’d probably meant to share. “Well, just hide then!”

“But _where_?” said Tee. “Hiding places are a bit lacking. There’s no wardrobes, no space under the beds...”

Fred thought about it for a few seconds, then threw his covers back. “Get in, quick.”

Tee just stared at him. “Bugger off! I’m not getting in your _bed_! You think that won’t look dodgy?”

“Well, the idea is so that he _won’t_ see you!” Fred pointed out. “Don’t worry; I’ll make it look like it’s just one person. You’re small enough to hide.”

“No way!” argued Tee. “There must be somewhere else I can hide.”

“Well, there’s the bathroom...” said Fred thoughtfully.

Tee didn’t have to think about that for long. Boys’ bathroom? No thanks! “Sod it, I’ll chance the bed,” she decided, reluctantly crawling under the covers with him.

Fred quickly rearranged the sheets. “You’re gonna have to move a bit closer if we’re pretending to be one person,” he said, pulling her nearer to him. 

“This had better not be some lame idea just to get me into bed,” Tee hissed from under the covers, though she sounded amused and she pressed closer against him nevertheless. “Thank God you wear underwear at night!”

She felt him laugh, rather than hearing him. “Shut up now,” Fred whispered. Tee obediently fell silent again.

“Hey Fred, you still up?” asked George quietly.

“Wide awake,” replied Fred truthfully.

George grinned. “Sober?”

“Maybe,” said Fred devilishly.

Tee rolled her eyes. They’d better hurry up with the small talk. She wasn’t exactly happy with this current situation. But there was no backing out now. George would certainly have a lot of questions if she appeared from under the covers.

“I should think so too,” said George. “Everyone’s gone to bed now. I think Wood’s still a bit drunk." 

Tee stifled a giggle at that. Though she wasn’t amused for long. It turned out the twins did make a meal out of small talk. She didn’t want to stay here all night. She could swear Fred was enjoying this and was dragging the conversation out on purpose. She resisted the urge to kick him.

Despite wearing nothing but shorts, Fred’s bare skin was burning hot. It felt like cuddling up to a furnace. Tee was not happy. She closed her eyes and started counting to a hundred. Surely they’d have shut up by then...

The next thing she knew, she was being poked quite hard in the shoulder. Where was she? She felt like she was in a sauna. She opened her eyes and started when she saw Fred staring back at her.

He was wearing his usual grin. “As if you fell asleep in my bed.”

Crap. She actually had dozed off. It must have been the heat. She pushed him away. “It’s your fault; it was too hot! You’re like a friggin’ werewolf.” She then remembered why she was here in the first place. “Hang on, where’s George?”

“He’s asleep,” said Fred. “So you can get out now.” He laughed softly and gave her a gentle push.

Tee didn’t need to be told twice. She rolled over and tumbled out of the bed. She scrambled to her feet and dashed to the door, not wanting to give George chance to wake up and catch her.

“Hey. Don’t I get a kiss goodnight?” teased Fred. Tee couldn’t quite think of a suitable insult for that. Fred took her silence to be a good thing. “Are you thinking about it?”

“No, I’m trying to come up with an offensive enough insult,” corrected Tee.

“That’s not very nice,” said Fred, pretending to be hurt. “And you’re obviously not doing a very good job at it.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to get back to you in the morning,” grumbled Tee.

She disappeared down the stairs before he could laugh at her some more and hurried on up to her own dormitory. She was quite cold now and she wanted her own bed. Rose was still awake when she got there. She’d obviously been waiting for her. “Where have you been?” she exclaimed, astonished.

“Trust me; you don’t wanna know,” insisted Tee, jumping into her bed. That was much better. “You’d get the wrong end of the stick if I told you.”

“Oo-er!” giggled Rose.

“Oh, don’t do that!” laughed Tee, burying herself in the covers.


	14. Secret's Out

The next morning, Tee was the last one to get up. Everyone else was already in the common room. Rose was watching Fred and George play Exploding Snap. Tee flopped onto the sofa beside her.

“You alright, Tee?” asked Rose. Her friend was currently burying her head in the cushions.

“Headache-y,” Tee moaned.

Fred just laughed. “Hangover?”

“No, I just didn’t really sleep,” replied Tee from underneath the cushions.

“Why don’t you go see Madam Pomfrey?” Rose suggested, feeling sympathetic. “She can probably sort it, easy.”

Tee sat up. “I never even thought of that. There was me just taking painkillers like an idiot. I’m going the hospital wing then.”

“Want me to come with you?” offered Rose.

“Sure,” said Tee enthusiastically, grabbing her friend’s arm. “Let’s have girl time!”

Rose was right. Madam Pomfrey was able to magic away Tee’s headache in a second. Tee marvelled at this. She’d never have to take Paracetamol again.

On the way back up to the common room, Rose decided it was question time. “I’m surprised Fred didn’t offer to go with you. He didn’t even seem bothered that you felt unwell.”

Tee shrugged. “Well, why would he?”

“You mean there isn’t anything going on between you two?” pressed Rose.

“Come on, Rose, you know me better than that,” said Tee reproachfully. “You didn’t ask that about any of the other guys.”

“I know,” agreed Rose. “But it’s Fred!”

“And he was drunk just like the rest of them,” laughed Tee. “That’s just fun Tee time.”

Rose laughed too. “I don’t know how you can both just be so casual around each other after last night.”

“Talent,” grinned Tee. “You know how much relationships freak me out anyway.”

“Yeah, I do,” said Rose. “That’s why I was a bit confused.”

“We're best friends. I’d have told you if there was something going on,” Tee hinted, hoping maybe Rose would venture secrets of her own. But Rose said nothing else, making Tee feel like having a mini sulk.

Back in the common room, a similar conversation was unfolding. “So are you and Tee like a thing now?” George had asked once Tee and Rose had left. After the party had ended, Rose had given into telling him all about what she'd seen.

Fred looked at him in surprise and laughed. “No, why?”

“Why do you think? Last night, idiot,” said George.

“Nah,” said Fred. “That just seemed to be the game last night, so I felt like joining in.”

George rolled his eyes. He should have known that really. “Trust you.”

“I’d tell you otherwise,” continued Fred. “Like you’d tell me if it was the other way round, right?”

“Right...” George agreed hesitantly.

Fred resisted the urge to grin. He always knew when his twin was lying. Right now being one of those instances. Luckily for George, he was saved from anymore questioning by the reappearance of Tee and Rose.

“Hey, Tee. Your head better?” asked George.

“Good as new!” beamed Tee. “All thanks to Rose.” She gave her friend a big hug.

“Geez, Tee! You’re colder than me for a change!” exclaimed Rose. “Where have you been; in the fridge?”

“Sorry,” Tee apologised sheepishly, jumping onto the sofa next to Fred.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” grinned Fred. “She’d be in there nicking the food. I don’t know how you can eat so much and be so tiny!” In reply, Tee quickly slid her hands up Fred’s shirt and placed them flat on his bare back. He jumped up off the sofa. “Bloody hell!” he yelped. “You are cold!”

Tee laughed. “Now you go sit over there.” She pulled Rose onto the sofa with her. “Rose can be my snuggle buddy.”

“That’s fine with me as long as I can watch,” smirked Fred, winking at them.

Tee didn’t need to do anything this time because Rose beat her to it by throwing a cushion at him. “Perv.”

“Hey, you’re all picking on me today!” protested Fred.

“Well, you pick on me every day!” Tee pointed out.

“That’s because you’re so easy to pick on, Kittykat,” grinned Fred.

Rose held up a second cushion. “I have another cushion and I’m not afraid to use it,” she warned. “Leave my Kitty alone.”

George laughed at Fred. “Told.”

Nobody felt like doing much that day. Quite a few of the Gryffindors, including Oliver Wood, were hungover from the previous night. When they went down to the Great Hall for lunch, they discovered that the majority of the Hufflepuffs were in the same state.

After lunch, Rose secretly agreed to play alibi to the twins, whilst Tee quickly slipped away with Kayley, Sumayyah and Marie. The plan worked – the twins didn’t notice she was gone until they were in the common room.

“Hey, where’d Tee go?” Fred realised in surprise.

“You only just noticed she wasn’t with us?” said Rose innocently.

“I thought she was behind us. She’s small, y’know,” grinned Fred. “She’s easy to miss.”

Rose hit him. “Just because she’s not here doesn’t mean you can bully her.”

“I was kidding!” protested Fred. “So where’s she gone?”

“She’s just around with her sister somewhere,” said Rose vaguely.

“That helps. So what are they doing?” pressed Fred. Rose said nothing. “Come on, tell me. I know you’re hiding something.” He poked her shoulder helpfully.

Rose ducked behind George. “I’m not saying anything. You can ask her yourself.”

“Well, when’s she gonna be back?” asked Fred.

Rose shrugged. “I have no idea. You’ll have to be patient.”

George laughed. “That’s not really one of his strong points.”

It turned out Tee was gone for quite a while. When her and the other girls got back, it was nearly three hours later. The common was virtually empty when they got there. Fred was sat with Ron, Harry, Hermione and their friend Neville Longbottom. They were also joined by Ginny Weasley and the older Weasley brother and prefect, Percy.

Fred jumped up when he saw them. “Finally!”

Tee didn’t even have time to duck his arms before he enveloped her in a hug. “Err, Fred... What are you doing?” She could hear everyone else giggling. “You haven’t been drinking again today, have you?”

Fred ignored her questions and exclaimed, “Do you know how bored I’ve been? I’ve had to hang around with this lot!” There were a few sarcastic responses from the other Weasleys, but Fred ignored them too.

“Yeah, okay... You can let go now,” said Tee, trying to push him away.

Fred then seemed to remember about Tee being absent in the first place. “So where have you been anyway? You just disappeared after lunch and Rose wouldn’t tell us why.”

Tee smiled to herself. Good old Rose. But she felt like she had a good reason for keeping it a secret. “Err, I don’t wanna tell you yet.”

Fred frowned. “Why not? What have you done, Kittykat?”

Tee made a face. “I’m not saying. It’s hard to explain... I’ll tell you next week or something.”

“Next week?” Fred's frown deepened, confused. “Why next week? Have you had a secret tattoo or something?”

Tee’s eyes widened. “How the hell did you guess that?”

“Wow, are you serious? I was only kidding!” exclaimed Fred, looking both astonished and impressed. “Let me see!”

“No, it needs to heal first!” replied Tee. “That’s why I didn’t want to tell people yet. I wanted to show it off when it looked all good.”

“Come on, I bet it looks fine,” persisted Fred.

“No way.”

“Just a peek?”

“No way.”

“Why; have you had it done somewhere naughty?”

Everyone else in the room started laughing again. “Careful Tee, he’s gonna start undressing you in a minute,” giggled Sumayyah.

“Yeah, so do you mind giving us some privacy?” grinned Fred, pulling Tee towards him again.

“Alright then,” laughed Kayley. The three of them headed towards the stairs.

“No! You’d all better stay in this room!” protested Tee, though she couldn’t help laughing. Looking around at who was in the common room, she realised what seemed wrong with the picture. “Hey, where’s Rose and George?”

“They buggered off again,” said Fred, looking annoyed. “That’s why I was left on my own.”

“Aww, sorry,” said Tee, standing on tiptoes so she could reach to pat him on the head. It felt like more effort than it was worth. “Didn’t you try following them?”

“Well, no...” admitted Fred. “I thought we were both gonna do that.”

Tee rolled her eyes. “Come on then, let’s go on the hunt!” She tugged on his hand helpfully. “Though you still could have tried on your own.”

Fred frowned. “Can’t you tell I don’t like being on my own? Pay attention, Kittykat.” With that, he turned around and tripped over one of the chairs. Tee burst out laughing and so did everyone else in the room. They’d all been watching the conversation – the twins were seen as comedy gold by most people. Fred straightened up, grinning sheepishly. “Okay, it wasn’t that funny.”

Tee was still giggling. “You’re lucky you’re pretty.” Fred frowned again – not sure if the comment was supposed to be a compliment or an insult. Tee didn’t feel like waiting for him to figure it out though and proceeded to dragging him towards the entrance portrait of the Fat Lady. “Come on!”

After nearly forty minutes of roaming the corridors, they decided this probably wasn’t the best plan. The castle was way too big to search when they had no idea where they were going.

“Okay,” said Fred. “If you wanted to go somewhere to have some privacy with your secret boyfriend, where would you go?”

Tee made a face. “Don’t ask me. I’m about as romantic as Snape.”

Fred just gave her an dirty look in reply. “Don’t go putting images of Snape in my head.”

Another fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of George and Rose anywhere. They’d asked anyone they’d seen, but still had no luck. “Maybe we should call it quits,” Tee suggested finally. “We’ve been at this for nearly an hour and there’s no sign of them.”

“Yeah, alright,” agreed Fred. “We’ll probably get back to the common room and they’ll already be there.”

They were just turning back when they heard voices from further up the corridor, moving towards them. Surprised as they were, there was no doubt that it was George and Rose. “That’s a bit ironic,” mused Tee. “We were finally going back after all this time and they’re just around the corner?”

“Yeah, so you might wanna move,” Fred pointed out, giving her a helpful push. “If they see us now, they’ll probably think we’ve been following them... Which we have.”

“Fine,” agreed Tee. “Where to?”

Fred looked around and then pushed Tee in the direction of the closest door. It was one of Filch’s storage cupboards. “In there.”

Tee gave him a withering look, then realised they probably didn’t have time for that. She reluctantly pulled on the door handle. It didn’t open. “It’s locked, genius.”

“There is a thing called magic,” sighed Fred, pulling out his wand. He tapped the handle with his wand and said, “Alohomora.” The door swung open at his touch. “I _am_ a genius.”

Before Tee had chance to attempt another wiseass comment, he’d pushed her inside and shut the door again behind them. “Thanks a lot,” said Tee sarcastically. It was pitch black and the floor was cluttered with Filch’s equipment. She stayed rooted to the spot because she knew attempting to move in the dark would only result in her ending up on the floor. “Can you hear them?”

Fred had his head pressed up against the door. “They’re talking, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. They’ve already passed us...” He hesitated. “I think they’ve gone now. I can’t hear them at all.”

“Let’s go then,” said Tee.

“Hang on,” Fred cautioned. “Let’s wait a few minutes, just in case they come back.”

Tee raised her eyebrows. “Why would they come back?”

Fred shrugged. “I said just in case. Don’t you think this is fun? We’re like Unspeakables or something.”

“Not really,” replied Tee. It may have been dark, but she knew the exact cheeky look he’d have on his face. “What’s an Unspeakable?”

“Wizard spies,” explained Fred.

“Oh, right,” said Tee. She paused for a few seconds. “Okay, let’s just go now. I really doubt they’re gonna come back.”

“Fine,” said Fred and pulled on the handle. It didn’t open. He tried the Alohomora charm again, but this time it didn’t work.

“Now who’s the genius?” said Tee sarcastically. “Why can’t we get out?”

“Maybe you can only unlock it from the outside, not the inside,” suggested Fred.

“Well, why does Filch’s cupboard need a door like that?” asked Tee. “Does he think his mop’s gonna try and escape?”

“Who knows?” said Fred, leaning casually against the door.

It took Tee a few moments to actually process what was going on. “So we really can’t get out? You’re not messing with me, are you?”

Fred laughed. “Sorry, Kittykat, no jokes this time.” He absently tried the door handle again. “It’s no problem though. It could be fun.”

Tee groaned. “You’re the only person who’d think that.”

Back in the Gryffindor common room, George and Rose were sat by the fire. The room was empty now apart from themselves. Kayley and Sumayyah had still been there when they’d got back and had told them that they thought Fred and Tee had gone looking for them.

“I wonder where they’ve got to,” Rose thought aloud. “Where would they have thought we were?”

“Maybe they’re onto us,” suggested George. “Fred was saying some weird stuff earlier. It felt like he was hinting at me to say something.”

Rose looked surprised. “I’m sure that’s what Tee was doing as well!”

“They must have figured it out somehow,” said George. 

“So what do we do?” asked Rose. “We’ve been doing so well... I’m just worried they’ll freak out about it and everything will be weird.”

“It’s okay. We don’t know that they know for certain,” reassured George, twisting their fingers together. “We’ve been really careful about it. If they did definitely know, surely they’d have said something by now.”

“You reckon they’re probably just guessing?” asked Rose.

George nodded. “And do you know what I say? Let them keep guessing.”

In Filch’s cupboard, Fred and Tee had been playing random games to pass the time. Fred was now sat on the floor, leaning against the door. Tee was still standing – she didn’t want to think about the amount of things she could break if she tried to step around the clutter on the floor.

They were currently on a game that Tee had suggested called ‘Shag, Marry, Kill.’ They’d take it in turns to give the other three people, out of which they’d have to choose which one they’d sleep with, which they’d marry and which they’d choose to kill.

“You’ve given me a right crap one,” complained Fred. “Okay, I’d definitely kill Trelawney. There’s no way I could do anything with that old bat.”

“And?” pressed Tee, who was quite enjoying watching him struggle.

“I’d sleep with Madam Hooch. I suppose she’s not that bad looking for an older woman,” continued Fred. “So I guess I’d have to marry McGonagall.”

Tee couldn’t help laughing. “Lucky you.”

“Right then. You gave me a rotten one, so I’m gonna do the same to you,” said Fred. He thought about it for a few moments. “Okay, who would you choose out of me, Sam and that Robbie guy you liked?”

“Hey, that’s no fair!” protested Tee.

Fred laughed. “You can choose to kill me if you like. I promise I won’t be offended.”

“Aww no, I couldn’t do that...” said Tee. “I guess I’d have to kill Sam.”

Fred was surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah,” answered Tee, still thinking it over. “I wouldn’t wanna marry Robbie though. He’s cute, but he was kind of a player. So I’d have to marry you.”

“Aww, thanks Tee. I promise I’ll be a good husband,” joked Fred. Tee didn’t reply. “What; are you considering it?”

“No, I’m trying to see what’s in here that I could hit you with,” Tee answered truthfully. The cupboard was still very dark, but her eyes had accustomed a little to the darkness and she could vaguely make things out.

“That’s not very nice,” said Fred.

“Yeah, well, you’d annoy the hell out of me if I had to spend every day of my life with you,” teased Tee.

She could see a shape that resembled a broom in the corner. She attempted to get it, but tripped over one of the multiple mop buckets. Instead of crashing to the floor, she typically landed on Fred instead.

“God, Tee... I know I’m talking about marriage proposals, but there’s no need to throw yourself at me,” Fred grinned.

“Shut up!” laughed Tee. The world would probably end the day Fred actually took something seriously.

For once, Fred did shut up. Because at that moment, the cupboard door was unlocked from the other side and pulled open, meaning they both fell half out into the corridor. The person who’d opened the door was the last person they wanted to see.

“Well, well...” drawled Snape. “It looks like some teenagers really can’t control their hormones.”

Blushing, Tee clambered off Fred. They both got awkwardly to their feet. There wasn’t really anything they could say to make the situation any better.

“You’ll both receive detention tonight...” Snape continued.

“What for?” Fred interrupted. Tee elbowed him hard in the chest. Knowing Snape, he’d love any excuse to dish more punishment out.

“I think you know what for, Mr. Weasley. Don’t try and act even more stupid than you already are,” advised Snape menacingly. “You will both come to my classroom at seven o’clock this evening to serve your detentions. Do not be late.”

With that, he marched off down the corridor, leaving Fred and Tee fuming about their unfair detentions.

“You didn’t have to elbow me so hard,” grumbled Fred, rubbing his ribs.

“It was only to stop you getting yourself another detention,” Tee pointed out. “You know how readily he gives them out to anyone who isn’t in Slytherin.”

“True,” admitted Fred. “Miserable bugger. You _must_ be more romantic than that slimy git, Tee.”

Tee couldn’t help laughing. “You’d be surprised! _Now_ can we go back to the common room?”

When they finally got back to the common room, it was empty apart from George and Rose, who looked up at them in surprise. “Where have you been?” asked Rose. “We were just about to go to the Great Hall for dinner. Everyone else is already down there.”

“We were looking for you guys!” explained Tee. “Where were _you_?”

“We’d just gone for a walk,” said George as casually as possible.

“For three hours?” Fred raised his eyebrows.

“Well, we were out on the grounds for a while, then we had a wander around the castle,” said George innocently.

Tee quietly noted that Rose wasn’t saying anything. It made sense – Rose hated lying and would try to avoid any situation where she had to. She shrugged. “Okay then, let’s go for food.” She looked up at Fred. “We’ll have to hurry though or we’ll be late for detention.”

“Yeah, I don’t fancy the sound of that,” agreed Fred.

“What have you got detention for?” asked Rose, surprised.

“Oh, Snape was just giving them out like he normally does,” said Tee vaguely.

The four of them stood there rather awkwardly. It was almost comical. Each of them knew they were being lied to. George and Rose obviously weren’t going to share any more information and Fred and Tee refused to give a straight answer if they weren’t getting one themselves.

“So...” said George, breaking the silence. “Great Hall?”

Less than an hour later, Fred and Tee were sat at one of the desks in Snape’s dungeon, writing lines. Dinner had been abnormally quiet. Just yesterday, everything had been fine. But now that they knew there were some unspoken truths in the air, the lying was cutting a rift through the group. None of them were happy about it, but still no one was speaking up.

“This stinks,” Fred whispered. Snape was sat at his desk at the front of the room, marking past essays.

“I know,” Tee agreed quietly. “It’s like our group’s been split up. And I hate being on the opposite side to Rose.”

“Yeah,” Fred replied. “Y’know... Me and George have never really fought before.”

Tee was surprised. “Never?”

“Well, no, not really,” said Fred. “And it’s silly, because this isn’t even a fight. I don’t really know what it is. But I don’t like it...”

Tee was completely taken aback. She’d rarely known Fred to say something serious and actually mean it, without cracking some sort of joke. She didn’t really understand just how deep the bond between twins could go. It felt as if before this year, the twins had never really been apart. Fred had even admitted earlier that he disliked being on his own. Were her and Rose really driving the twins apart? She definitely didn’t feel comfortable with that.

“What’s up?” asked Fred quietly. Tee had been staring down at the desk for the last two minutes.

“Is this all _our_ fault?” Tee replied.

“Whose?” asked Fred, confused.

“Mine and Rose’s,” said Tee, feeling and looking very guilty. “We’re splitting you guys up.”

Fred laughed, but Snape cleared his throat loudly and he fell silent. Once Snape was concentrating on the essays again, he said quietly, “Don’t worry about it. Me and George are teenage boys. One of us was bound to want a girlfriend at some point.”

“I guess...” said Tee.

“It’s okay; we’ll just blame George,” Fred grinned, his eyes twinkling.

Tee didn’t get to reply, because Snape suddenly announced loudly, “I see no reason for you to be talking. You will continue in _silence_.”

Wisely, they decided to do what he said. It would be safer to aggravate an Erumpent than it was to annoy Snape. Tee even took extra care not to make any unnecessary noise with her quill and parchment.

It was now so quiet that they could occasionally hear people passing in the corridor outside. Most of them were probably Slytherins making their way back to their common room. But then they heard familiar voices right outside the room... George and Rose again! But what were they doing this far away from Gryffindor tower?

Fred leant back on the back two legs of his chair, until he was in danger of toppling over, trying to see through the open door. He couldn’t quite see from where he was sat though, so he reluctantly let his chair tip back into position.

“Is it definitely them?” Tee asked as quietly as she could.

“I think so,” Fred mouthed back. He looked around at Snape, but his eyes were still on the work he was marking. “Come on...”

Fred carefully slid his chair back and then pulled the desk closer towards him. He then looked pointedly at Tee. Tee knew what he was doing and she really couldn’t see it working, but she sighed and grudgingly pushed her chair forwards, helping him to try and inch the desk closer to the door.

They’d just got the table far enough so that Fred could see outside, but then his way was suddenly blocked by Snape.

“I don’t know what you’re doing...” said Snape icily. “But unless you want another detention, you’d better stop it.” He sneered at the pitiful amount of lines they’d both done so far. “I have to deliver a message. That table had better be back where it was by the time I get back.”

Snape left the dungeon and shut the door behind him. Fred and Tee waited several moments before jumping up and trying to see through the bars at the top of the door. Well, Fred was looking through them – Tee was nowhere near tall enough to see. They didn’t dare open the door in case Snape came back.

“Can you see them? What are they doing?” Tee questioned Fred, hovering near him.

“Yeah, they’re just talking,” answered Fred, still watching through the bars.

“People should consider the vertically challenged when they make doors like this,” Tee grumbled.

“Hang on, they’re kissing!” exclaimed Fred suddenly, surprised. Even though they’d pretty much known about George and Rose, it was still different actually seeing it.

“What?” cried Tee. “No fair, I wanna see!” She quickly whirled around, looking for a chair to stand on, but before she could go and grab one, Fred had suddenly wound his arms around her waist and lifted her up off the ground. “Fred!” she protested. “What are you doing? Put me down!”

“Well, you said you wanted to see, didn’t you?” grinned Fred, lifting her up so that she could see out into the corridor.

Tee still didn’t get the chance to spy on George and Rose though, because she’d noticed Snape coming back down the corridor. “Snape’s coming back!” she panicked. “Put me down, quick!”

Startled, Fred stepped back too quickly and lost his footing. They both crashed backwards onto the floor, just as Snape came back through the door. He looked livid.

“Ten points from Gryffindor!” he barked. “I don’t know what you two are trying to do, but you will both get up and you will stay here all night if that’s what it takes for you to finish those lines!”

They obediently scrambled back to their seats and picked up their quills. They finished their lines in record time without saying another word. They handed them in to Snape, who reluctantly excused them with another scowl. Once they were out of the dungeon, they raced back to the common room. George and Rose were the only ones there, sat in their usual seats by the fire.

“How’d detention go?” asked Rose when she saw them.

Tee hesitated, now feeling awkward. She’d been all set to confront them, but now she didn’t want to. She still felt slightly hurt that Rose hadn’t told her about George. She didn’t even know how long it had been going on for.

So instead, she just said, “Oh, fine.”

Fred looked at her in surprise, but decided to follow suit and said nothing about what they’d seen. “Just the usual.”

“I think I’m going up to the dorm for a bit,” Tee decided.

“Tee, wait...” Rose sighed, getting up. “I’ve got something to tell you.”

George looked round at her, surprised. “You do?”

“Sorry, George,” Rose apologised to him. “But it’s just driving me mad...” She didn’t get to say anymore though, because Tee had suddenly jumped on her. “What?” she asked, startled.

“I knew you hated secrets!” exclaimed Tee happily, still hugging her friend. “I’m so happy you were gonna tell me!”

George looked bemused. “How do you know what she was going to say?”

“Because it’s Rose!” Tee pointed out. “No way could she have _more_ than one secret.”

Rose laughed. “You know me too well.”

“So you guys _do_ know?” said George.

“Of course we do; we’re not daft,” replied Fred, taking the seat that Rose had just vacated.

“Took you long enough though,” grinned George.

Fred punched his twin’s shoulder lightly. “Yeah, well, you guys started getting careless. We saw you outside Snape’s room.”

“Oops,” said George.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Tee half asked, half demanded.

“Well, everything seemed fine how it was,” said Rose. “We were worried you’d get weirded out and it’d split us all up.”

“It felt like that was starting to happen anyway,” Tee pointed out.

“Yeah, I didn’t know that was gonna happen,” admitted Rose. “That’s why I just decided to tell you.”

“I’m glad! You left me on Fred’s side!” joked Tee. Fred threw a cushion at her. “So will we be all back to normal now?”

“Pretty much, I guess,” said George gratefully.

“Great!” enthused Fred, slinging an arm around his brother’s shoulders.

This small action seemed to cause Tee to realise something. She suddenly pointed at them and exclaimed, “I know who you guys remind me of! Thank God, it’s always drove me mad!”

“Who?” Fred and George asked in unison.

“The Hitachiin twins!” Tee exclaimed happily.

Rose laughed in agreement. “Yes! Definitely!”

“ _Who_?” the twins repeated.

“They’re from this anime we like called Ouran Host Club,” explained Tee. “They’re so like you guys; I can’t believe I never realised before.”

“So which one’s Hikaru?” giggled Rose, quoting from the show.

Tee laughed. “Do you even need to ask?”

Rose laughed too. “Good point. George is definitely Kaoru. What was it that Haruhi said? On the Halloween episode when they’re in the net?”

“Oh yeah,” Tee remembered. “That Kaoru’s nice on his own, but Hikaru only gets worse when he’s by himself.”

“That sounds about right,” laughed George. Fred just grinned and didn’t deny it.

“There’s one big difference between Weasley twins and Hitachiin twins though,” Rose reminded.

“Well, you never know...” said Tee, putting on a feigned thoughtful expression. She turned to the twins. “Have you guys ever considered twincest?”

“What?” cried the twins.

“You’re comparing us to gay twins?” complained Fred, quickly removing his arm from around George’s shoulders. He didn’t get an answer though, because the girls were laughing too much at their reaction.

When they’d stopped, Tee said to Rose, “Aww, that means you get your twin after all.”

“Yeah!” agreed Rose happily. “I always liked Kaoru best, so it kinda fits.”

“Well, what about me?” protested Fred.

“Don’t worry; you’re Tee’s favourite,” Rose reassured.

“Of course I am,” grinned Fred, winking at Tee.

“You didn’t have to tell him that,” groaned Tee. “He’s big-headed enough as it is.”

“Ah, it’s such a good show,” said Rose wistfully. “I really need to watch it again.”

Tee stared as she remembered something. "Rose. I have it on my _iPod_! Come on, let’s go and watch some right now!” She grabbed her friend’s hand and dragged her towards the stairs.

“Well, goodnight then,” Fred called sarcastically.

“Goodnight!” the girls shouted from the stairs.


	15. The New Year's Dance

The next day, the Gryffindors found a notice on the bulletin board, letting them all know that there would be a celebratory formal dance held in the Great Hall on New Year’s Eve. The majority of the school was pretty excited about this – Tee being one of the minority who wasn’t too sure about it.

“Come on, Tee,” Rose pleaded with her friend the one afternoon in the common room. Fred and George were playing a doubles game of wizard chess against Ron and Harry, so they were free to chat without being hassled. “I know it’s not your idea of a party, but you’ll probably like it!”

“I’ll just feel really out of place,” said Tee. “It’s all dresses and slow dancing and _dates_.” She made a face. “You’ll be okay; you’ve got George. Plus you like slow dancing and you look great in dresses!”

“You dress up sometimes too,” Rose pointed out. “You’ve got a few really nice dresses. And you’re not as bad as slow dancing as you think.” She giggled. “You just need to pick your feet up a bit more.”

Tee couldn’t help smiling. “You don’t need to point out that I’m clumsy! And who would I go with? I’d only embarrass myself in front of them.”

Rose shrugged. “Ask Sam. I’m sure he’d say yes.”

“I wouldn’t really want to go with Sam,” said Tee vaguely. “He’s good for a snog and everything, but going with him as my date would be like taking a scary step forward and I don't want that.”

Rose started laughing. “Gosh, you’re so awkward. Commitment isn’t that scary, y’know.”

Tee grinned. “Is that your subtle way of telling me I’m weird?”

“We all know you’re weird and we love you for it,” laughed Rose. “Why don’t you just go with Fred? At least that way you won’t have to worry about it meaning anything.”

Tee snorted. “No way. I’m not asking him; he bullies me enough as it is.”

“Well, I don’t know then!” laughed Rose, throwing her hands up in mock despair. “You really are awkward; you can find your own date.”

Personally, Rose was really looking forward to the dance. It was definitely more the kind of event that she liked. She was glad now that in September she’d suggested to Tee that they both pack a dress, in case they did have any formal occasions to go to.

She was also happy that she could just go with George and not have to worry about anyone freaking out over it. The news had spread round the Gryffindor house after Fred and Tee had finally found out, so George and Rose were free to be a couple publicly now that there were no more secrets.

Most of the other Gryffindors now had dates too. Sumayyah had been the lucky one to bag Cedric, Marie was going with Curly-Bop, and Kayley was going with another of the Hufflepuff crew named Joe. Tee really hadn’t wanted to have to find a date, but Rose managed to convince her to just come to the dance anyway and said they could all just hang out in a group.

That had been the original plan anyway.

Tee and Rose had just finished watching another episode of Ouran Host Club on Tee’s iPod, so Rose went to disturb the twins’ seemingly endless games of Exploding Snap. Putting her hands over George’s eyes seemed to do the trick – it distracted him just long enough for Fred to win the next pair.

George didn’t seem to mind. He just laughed and gently pulled her hands away. “Okay, I get it; more time with Rose.”

“Just because you guys are public now doesn’t mean you get to hog him all the time,” said Fred, tossing his cards onto the table.

“Hog him? You guys have been playing this for nearly two hours,” Rose pointed out.

“Wow, I can’t believe I’m in such high demand,” joked George, pulling Rose round onto his lap. “There’s no need to fight; there’s plenty of me to go around.”

Fred threw some cards at him. “And it doesn’t mean I want to sit here and watch you two either.”

“Well, that you’ll just have to deal with,” laughed George. “Or move.”

Fred decided to go for the second option. He went over and flopped onto the sofa next to Tee, pulling her earphones out. “Are you still watching that cartoon?”

“Well, I was. And it’s not a cartoon; it’s anime,” Tee corrected, tugging her earphones back and turning her iPod off. “Has Rose stolen your friend again?” she teased.

Fred grinned. “You shouldn’t enjoy it. It only means I’ll hassle you instead.”

“Oh, dear God,” said Tee in mock horror.

“You love it really,” teased Fred, twisting around and lying back with his head in her lap.

“What are you doing? Get off!” laughed Tee, attempting to tip him onto the floor. He could be so unmanageable when he was in one of his funny moods, which seemed to be happening more and more lately.

“Are you going to the dance with Sam?” Fred asked suddenly.

Tee made a face. Everyone seemed to be jumping to that conclusion. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’d probably just wanna dance and be all, y’know... bleugh.”

Fred laughed. “Yeah, you probably can’t get away with just snogging when there’ll be so many teachers around.”

“Exactly,” grinned Tee. “It’s not so much like my idea of a party.”

“Will you be _my_ date?” Fred asked unexpectedly.

Tee was startled. That was the last thing she’d have expected him to ask. She felt a bit ashamed when she realised she hadn’t even really thought about Fred going to the dance. She’d actually just assumed he’d have been going with somebody anyway. The twins were quite popular in school.

“I thought you would have already had a date,” Tee admitted.

“Like who?” asked Fred, surprised.

Tee just shrugged. “I dunno. Anyone.”

Fred grinned up at her suddenly. “Were you jealous, Kittykat?” In response, Tee shoved a cushion in his face, taking him by surprise. She then pushed him off her lap. “That was a bit uncalled for,” Fred pouted, now lying on his back on the floor. “Is that a no?”

“You’ll only bully me even more,” Tee pointed out.

“No bullying. I promise,” said Fred innocently.

“Yeah, I believe that,” Tee muttered sarcastically.

“You make me sound awful,” said Fred, feigning being hurt. “I’m not really _that_ bad!”

Tee smiled apologetically. “Sorry.” She leant over so she could reach down and pat him on the head. It wasn’t worth the effort – Fred grabbed her wrist and pulled her right off the sofa so that she fell on top of him. She groaned. “I should have known you’d do that."

Fred just grinned his devilish smile. “So is that a yes?”

Tee couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine, it's a yes.”

XXX

With only half an hour before the dance was about to start on New Year’s Eve, Tee and Rose were still in their dormitory getting ready. Tee was just helping Rose to apply her dark grey eye shadow.

“As if you’re actually ready before me,” exclaimed Rose.

“There’s a first time for everything,” smiled Tee. “Now don’t make me laugh or you’re gonna end up looking like a hooker.”

Tee was wearing liberal amounts of eye makeup herself, though hers was bright silver. She’d made sure her hair was straightened to perfection and was wearing a short, red and black Spanish-looking dress that she’d purchased from a rocker shop the previous year.

Rose was wearing a more classy red dress that fell straight to the floor in several layers. She was also wearing high-heeled shoes – unlike Tee, who never dared to risk heels – and had her hair tied up in an elegant knot. The air in the room was now filled with a mix of the different perfumes they’d been trying out.

Rose laughed. “I’m actually quite excited.” Tee didn’t reply. “You’re still not sure about it, are you?”

Tee shook her head. “I’ve never done anything like this before – I just don’t think I’m gonna like it very much. I’ve got the feeling I’m gonna end up falling flat on my face at some point and it’s just gonna be highly embarrassing.”

“You’ll be _fine_ ,” reassured Rose. “You have much more balance than you seem to think. If you were that unbalanced, you wouldn’t be able to play Quidditch. You’d just fall off your broom.”

Tee mused on that while she added the finishing touches to Rose’s eyes. It was actually a very good point. “I think you’re good to go, Rose!”

“Ta, Tee,” thanked Rose. “I’ve just gotta pick out some earrings.”

“Oh dear,” teased Tee. Rose had quite an extensive collection of earrings. She’d actually brought them all to Hogwarts with her as well, which was an uncharacteristically impractical act for her. “I’m gonna go wait downstairs then. Before all the perfume in here kills me.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you in the common room,” replied Rose. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

The common room was empty now. Tee went and sat on the sofa by the fire. Everyone must have already made their way down to the Great Hall. The only reassurance was that the twins were also still in their dormitory, getting ready.

Fred was the first one ready. Tee looked round when she heard someone coming down the stairs. She couldn’t help but look at him in pleasant surprise when she saw him in his almost Tuxedo-like dress robes. He seemed to regard her with the same opinion. “Wow, Tee, you look pretty,” he said, taken aback.

Tee laughed awkwardly. She’d never really felt comfortable wearing dresses. But that must have been the most genuinely nice thing she’d ever heard him say. “Thanks. So do you.”

“I’m not sure if pretty is really a compliment for a guy, but I’ll take it,” laughed Fred, falling back onto the sofa next to her. “Is Rose still getting ready?”

Tee didn’t reply. She was staring at him curiously. “Are you wearing aftershave?”

“Yeah,” Fred shrugged. “Why? Don’t you like it?”

“Have you wore it before?” asked Tee, ignoring his own questions. It smelt strangely familiar, but she couldn’t ever remember him wearing aftershave before. It wasn’t something you bothered with at school, after all.

“I don’t think so,” said Fred, confused. He thought about it for a while. “Oh, wait, I think I was wearing it on the train actually.”

Tee still wasn’t sure. That must have been the reason why. Yet there was still something else niggling at the back of her mind. It felt kind of like déjà vú, only it seemed more relevant than that. And she had the bizarre feeling it had something to do with Professor Snape...

George came downstairs then. He was wearing dress robes identical to Fred’s. He also seemed to be wearing aftershave, though his was different to Fred’s and a lot stronger.

“Bloody hell, George. What aftershave are _you_ wearing?” said Fred, pulling a face.

“I’m _not_ ,” said George, looking disgruntled. “Ginny accidentally put one of her perfumes in my trunk – it’s gone all over my suit.”

“So you smell like a girl?” Fred grinned. “Urgh, you reek of vanilla.”

“You’re lucky, George. Rose likes vanilla,” Tee reassured, trying not to laugh. “It’s one of her favourite scents. Remember, she even smelled it in the...”

Tee suddenly stopped. Something had just clicked inside her head. _Amortentia_. The love potion that Professor Snape had taught them about. That’s why Fred’s aftershave had seemed so familiar. It was his that she’d smelt in the Amortentia.

But why? Fred had only wore it the one time before that and she hadn’t even realised he’d been wearing it. She couldn’t even say she cared particularly for the smell. It was just standard aftershave. So why had she noticed it in the Amortentia, along with all the other things she _knew_ she liked the smell of? Unless...

“Earth to Tee...” said George, waving a hand in front of her face.

Tee jumped. “Oh, sorry!” He’d obviously still been talking to her when she’d zoned out.

“Don’t worry, George, I think Tee’s just in a funny mood today,” said Fred, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Tee flinched away as if she’d been burned. _Why_ was she even thinking this? She’d never even considered it before. It couldn’t be right... Surely...

But now she was having flashbacks from the past term – wrestling with Fred on the grass by the lake and then again in the snow; Professor Snape discovering them in Filch’s cupboard; how terrified she’d been when he’d been poisoned in Transfiguration; kissing him at the pool party; hiding in his bed, hot against his bare chest...

Then, to her immense horror, she suddenly blushed deeply. The twins both stared at her, startled. Tee very rarely blushed. With most things, she didn’t care about them enough to get embarrassed.

“What’s up, Tee?” asked Fred curiously. “You’re acting well weird.”

“Are you really this worried about the dance?” added George.

Luckily, Tee was saved from answering, because Rose came down the stairs at that moment. Tee was so relieved she jumped up from the sofa and dashed to her friend’s side.

“Wow Tee, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you move that fast,” laughed Rose. “Are you freaking out again?”

“I think she’s having a nervous breakdown,” joked Fred, completely none the wiser.

“Seriously Tee, what’s wrong?” asked Rose in concern, eyeing her friend. “You look really freaked.”

“Don’t even ask,” Tee muttered, so quiet that the twins didn’t hear.

Rose decided not to press it further. It was obviously something Tee didn’t want to talk about in front of the boys. So instead, she asked, “So why can I smell vanilla in here?”

“That would be me,” said George, raising his hand. “Long story short, it’s Ginny’s fault.”

Rose laughed. “You’re lucky I like vanilla then.”

“Yeah, I heard,” smiled George, coming over and putting his arm around her. “You all ready then?”

“Definitely!” enthused Rose, winding her arm around his waist. “Let’s go!”

“Come on, Tee,” agreed Fred, getting up and offering her his arm.

Tee reluctantly took it, feeling nervous. She could feel her hands shaking and she prayed he wouldn’t notice. Unfortunately, he did.

“Tee, you’re shaking,” Fred stared at her in concern. “Are you really that nervous?”

Tee laughed awkwardly. “You have no idea.”

“It won’t be that bad,” reassured Fred. “I promised no bullying. Even if you fall down the stairs or something, I swear I won’t laugh at you.”

“Oh, thanks,” said Tee sarcastically. Though that’s not what I’m worried about anymore, she thought to herself.

The evening didn’t get any less awkward. Tee felt uncomfortable in Fred’s company and took any opportunity she could to avoid him. She’d managed to escape to Rose’s side multiple times already, though she was now worrying it might be starting to look a bit obvious. So she decided to try something different.

“Let’s play a game!” she told Rose, after separating her from George for the fourth time.

“What game?” asked Rose.

“Dance dares,” decided Tee, just making the idea up on the spot.

“Well, how do you play?” asked Rose.

“We choose random people for each other. Then we have to go and ask that person for a dance,” Tee improvised. “No buts.”

Rose laughed. “I guess that could be fun.”

It actually was, for a while. Tee first sent Rose to dance with Jensen and Rose, in turn, got Tee to ask Sam. Then Sumayyah allowed Rose to dance with Cedric, who compensated by getting Tee to dance with Oliver Wood.

The dares continued to get worse and worse. Tee accompanied Rose over to ask Professor Snape for a dance. She made sure that Rose asked him in front of Professor McGonagall – there was no way he’d say no in front of another teacher, so he very grudgingly allowed Rose a quick waltz. Tee tried not to watch them because it was bringing on giggling fits, so she asked Professor Lupin for a dance on her own accord.

Though after the song had finished, Rose came back over to her. George had returned to her side again.

“What’s going on, Tee?” asked George. “You’ve just abandoned Fred all night. He’s well confused.”

Tee suddenly felt really bad. She’d hoped none of them would notice. And she hadn’t intended to just leave Fred on his own – she just felt awkward being around him right now. Why had this had to happen tonight of all nights? “I’m sorry, I just... I don’t even know! I’m so confused!”

Rose stepped away from George and put her arm around her friend. “What is it? Do you wanna just tell me?”

As bad as it made her feel, Tee shook her head. “I can’t. Sorry...” 

She escaped from Rose and George as soon as she could and went to sit in the corner of the Hall. She felt quite miserable. Fred was probably pissed off with her for avoiding him all night, Rose and George must be completely lost and she just wasn’t having a good time like everyone else seemed to be.

She felt ridiculous. She liked new guys all the time and it never normally bothered her. Her and Fred had always had a really good friendship – she hated how awkward she suddenly felt around him. She wished so much that she hadn’t realised anything at all.

She didn’t doubt that she liked him though now. If she didn’t, then she wouldn’t have been so embarrassed about it. Now that she’d properly thought about it, she couldn’t believe she’d never even considered it before. Sure, they’d always been quite flirty together, but she was generally like that anyway. She’d just happened to find someone else who was the same. It had only been for fun.

Rose was still watching Tee, whilst dancing with George. She’d been sat in the corner for over half an hour now. They’d been dancing in silence for a while, but she couldn’t help bursting out, “I don’t know what’s wrong! Something must be bothering her – I’ve never seen her so weirded out before.”

“Yeah, she won’t even look at Fred,” agreed George.

“Maybe he accidentally upset her,” suggested Rose. “That would explain why she’s been avoiding him all night.”

George frowned. “Surely Tee, of all people, would know not to take anything Fred says seriously.”

“I just don’t get it,” said Rose sadly. She wished her friend would tell her what was bugging her.

“Just enjoy the dance. I know you’ve been looking forward to it,” said George, kissing her softly on the lips. “Stop worrying.”

“Is this you trying to distract me?” asked Rose as he kissed her again.

George looked amused. “Is it working?”

“Considerably,” smiled Rose, kissing him back.

Tee was still sat in the corner, feeling quite pissed off with herself. She felt even worse when the next song came on. It was a rock ballad called ‘Your Guardian Angel’ by wizarding band, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. They also happened to be one of Tee’s favourites and this was one of her all-time favourite songs. She could feel a sulk coming on.

Just as she was seriously considering getting up and leaving the dance altogether, Fred suddenly appeared at her side so quickly that it made her jump. “So do I actually get to dance with you tonight?” he asked. Tee fidgeted, embarrassed. “Come on, you like this song, don’t you?”

Tee looked at him suspiciously. “How did you know that?”

“It was on your iPod,” replied Fred, shrugging. “Remember, we were looking through it that first day on the train.”

Tee was surprised. That seemed like such a long time ago now. “Bloody hell, how’d you remember that?”

“Because I’m clever,” Fred grinned.

Tee snorted. “You wish.” At least the ability to insult him hadn’t completely left her.

“So is that a yes or a no? You’ve danced with everyone else, including the teachers.” Fred made a face. “You may as well dance with me too, especially considering as I’m supposed to be your date.”

Tee hesitated. At least he wasn’t pissed off with her. Though she still felt bad for avoiding him all night. She really hoped he hadn’t been that bothered about it.

Fred held out his hand and gave Tee his best puppy dog look. “Please?”

Tee smiled. She knew she couldn’t say no – she’d never been able to resist that look, even before. Plus she was grateful that he wasn’t questioning her like George and Rose had. He could be surprisingly tactful at times.

Fred grinned again. “That’s a yes, isn’t it?”

Tee didn’t trust herself to answer coherently again. She felt like she’d already used up her quota. So she just took his outstretched hand and let him lead her back onto the dance floor.

She felt a little more comfortable now that she knew he wasn't going to grill her, though she spent most of the song concentrating on her feet. When the song finished, the music stopped altogether. Tee looked up, wondering what had happened. She could see confusion clouding Fred’s eyes too.

He frowned. “Hey, what happened to the music?”

His question was answered though when Professor Dumbledore’s voice suddenly filled the room like he was on a loudspeaker. “Sorry to interrupt, boys and girls, but time seems to be running away with us. It’s nearly time to start the countdown into the New Year.”

Tee felt her stomach flip. Oh great, the end of the New Year countdown always meant lots of hugging and kissing. Like she needed to feel anymore embarrassed. 

“Err, let’s find Rose and George,” she suggested in what she hoped was an offhand voice.

Luckily, Fred agreed. “Yeah, come on then.”

Rose and George weren’t hard to find. They were at the edge of the dance floor, standing under the strings of mistletoe. Tee tugged on Rose’s dress from an arm’s length, being especially careful not to stand anywhere near the mistletoe. “Come on, Rose, you’ll be able to do that _literally_ in a minute.”

Rose laughed and allowed herself to be pulled away from her boyfriend. “Fine, but if it’s longer than a minute, then sod that.”

“It’s time to count, everyone,” announced Professor Dumbledore, sounding like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. 

Everyone in the Great Hall joined in the count from ten finally down to one, and finished with joyous shouts of “Happy New Year!”

Everybody around them were hugging, kissing and cheering. George pulled Rose into his arms and kissed her again. Fred grabbed Tee in a hug before she had chance to do anything else. “Happy New Year, Tee!”

“Happy New Year...” Tee replied breathlessly.

She could feel her face burning and was glad that the Great Hall was so dark. Fred didn’t seem to let go for quite a long time, and when he did, she felt hot and flustered. This only annoyed her even more for acting so idiotic. She practically forced her way between George and Rose, so that she could hug and cling to her best friend. Rose then passed her onto George so that she could wish Fred a happy new year too.

“Happy New Year, Fred!” Rose beamed, giving him a hug.

“You too,” smiled Fred. He then whispered in her ear, “Please find out what’s up with her.”

“Trust me; I’ve been trying,” Rose whispered back with a frown.

Though they’d tried to be inconspicuous, Tee had noticed the exchange. She hadn’t heard what they’d said, but she knew it was about her. She felt awful. She was going to have to make it up to all of them somehow. But for now, she just wanted to get through the rest of the night without doing something stupid.


	16. Tee Freaks Out

Tee spent as much time as she could in her dormitory over the next few days. It was a lot easier to avoid anything embarrassing by just not being around Fred. Rose had given up on questioning her, since she obviously wasn’t willing to explain anything.

However, Tee’s plan failed when the new term started and they all had to go back to their normal lessons. It was impossible to avoid Fred when they were in classes together all day.

Monday wasn’t too bad. In Transfiguration, they were only taking notes for the start of their next spell and Defence Against The Dark Arts was a practical against dugbogs. Both lessons required a lot of attention, so Tee didn’t really have chance to dwell on anything else.

Herbology wasn’t so good. They were working on puffapods – fat green plants with seeds that burst into life on sharp intact. Fred was in one of his funny moods again and was practically dancing around Tee and Rose with some roses that Professor Sprout kept to feed the Venomous Tentacula. This caused Tee to drop nearly all of the seeds on the floor, meaning a forest of pink flowers had bloomed around their worktop. Professor Sprout was not impressed.

Luckily, Tee could then escape with Rose to Muggle Studies. She’d been constantly annoyed with herself over the last several days. She liked guys all the time, but she’d never before had one turn her into a babbling idiot just by being around her. She supposed it was just weird that it was Fred she liked. They’d been friends since the beginning of the year and she hadn’t once thought of him in that way. And now that she had, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Tuesday faired better to start off with. In Care of Magical Creatures Hagrid had brought in a couple of unicorns. Unicorns didn’t trust boys much, so the boys had had to wait further away whilst the girls were allowed to go forward and admire the unicorns close up. Rose generally wanted most animals that they learnt about in Hagrid’s lessons, but she was adamant that she _definitely_ wanted a unicorn.

Following this was History of Magic – in which they could doze off, daydream and just generally not pay any attention and get away with it. Professor Flitwick had them start on Cheering Charms after lunch. Tee and Rose paired up and got fairly enthusiastic with their charms, meaning they spent the majority of the lesson in fits of giggles. Tee was thoroughly happy after that lesson. Cheering Charms had obviously been good for her.

It didn’t take long for her mood to change, however, when they had Divination next. Professor Trelawney was introducing them to palm-reading. Like everything else they’d learnt so far, she told them that palm-reading was a difficult, very precise art that she didn’t expect any of them to follow.

Rose had been quite offended by this, since she used to practice palm-reading herself and the twins grumbled that there was no point in learning something that the teacher didn’t think any of them would get anyway. Nevertheless, the class set to work in pairs, as usual, consulting their copies of ‘Unfogging The Future’.

“This isn’t right,” Rose protested. “This is nothing like the version I learnt from. It doesn’t explain the heart line right. And there’s nothing on how many partners and children you’re going to have.”

Tee made a face. “I never liked that part anyway. It always told me I was gonna have lots of kids.”

George laughed. “I take it you don’t want kids then?”

Tee shook her head furiously. “No way; I hate kids. I don’t think I even wanna get married.”

“You’ve still gotta come to my wedding though,” insisted Rose.

“As long as I can choose dresses,” negotiated Tee.

“Deal,” Rose laughed.

“Geez. Only a fifth year and you’re already planning your wedding,” teased George.

“That’s what girls do,” said Rose brightly, tapping his nose. “Except in Tee’s case she just plans them for other people.”

Hearing the girls laughing, Professor Trelawney drifted over. “I don’t see what is funny about palm-reading. I get the feeling that you two girls don’t take Divination very seriously.”

Tee could think of a million responses to that, but she held her tongue. She had no doubt that every one of them would land her in detention. Rose kept quiet too.

“I know you have learnt other practices similar to that of what we use in Divination,” said Professor Trelawney, addressing Rose directly. “But you must remember that what I teach you are the _right_ methods.”

Rose stared at her in disbelief, fighting the urge to argue. How much more superior could she be? It didn’t help either that the twins were making faces at Professor Trelawney behind her back.

Professor Trelawney then turned to Tee. “And you just don’t seem to be very interested in what the future holds for you.”

“Well, I’m not really,” admitted Tee. She’d only taken Divination because Rose had wanted to do it.

“But you _must_ take an interest,” insisted Professor Trelawney, inspecting Tee closely. “Especially when _your_ future is so clear.”

Tee tried not to lean away. She didn’t really feel like being analysed by some bogus fortune-teller. She tried to ignore the muffled laughter from the twins. Most of the class were now watching in amusement too. It wasn’t very often that Professor Trelawney picked some unfortunate student to single out, but when she did, she always got ridiculously carried away.

“Let’s see... There will be no children in your life,” Professor Trelawney predicted in her usual dreamy manner.

Thank God, Tee thought to herself. Professor Trelawney was now so close that she could count all the glittery jewels in her spectacles. There were actually two missing from the one corner.

“There will be a husband, however,” Professor Trelawney continued.

“But I don’t _want_ to get married,” Tee interrupted loudly. She heard Rose giggle.

“But you will, dear!” insisted Professor Trelawney. “I can see it... A young man with red hair.”

Tee did jerk back then, startled. She noticed Professor Trelawney shoot a cursory look at the twins. Tee followed her glance. Fred caught her eye and winked at her. She tried very hard not to blush.

“It’s okay, Tee. We don’t have to get married if you don’t want to,” Fred teased loudly. "We can just elope instead."

Tee felt herself blush darker than her own hair. Several classmates started laughing, including Rose and George.

Professor Trelawney didn’t look impressed. She drifted away to inspect some other students’ progress, muttering something that sounded a lot like, “If she had any sense, she’d say no...”

Fred and George both looked after her in amazement. “Surely teachers aren’t allowed to insult students like that,” said George.

“I’m not _that_ bad!” exclaimed Fred, looking mortally offended. Rose started giggling and Tee couldn't help joining in.

“I’m sure Professor Trelawney loves you really,” teased Rose.

“It’s not that old bag I want to love me,” grinned Fred. He shifted round to the other side of the table, slinging his arm around Tee’s shoulders. “So when’s our wedding date gonna be, Tee?”

“Never,” said Tee, attempting to shift his arm. She could feel her face growing hot again. “If you bring up anymore marriage talk, you’re gonna lose all feeling in your legs.”

“That’s no way to talk to your loving husband,” Fred tutted. He wasn’t really concerned. Tee threatened him on a regular basis.

“I’m seriously going to curse you in a minute,” warned Tee.

“Not without this you won’t,” smirked Fred, quickly grabbing her wand up off the desk and spinning it deftly between his fingers.

“Hey, give that back!” protested Tee, trying to snatch her wand off him. He was holding her back with one arm still tight around her shoulders and keeping the wand out of her reach with the other hand.

She didn’t need to worry though. Professor Trelawney was back and she wasn’t happy. “I expect to see you all _working_ ,” she instructed, steel in her eyes.

“What she said,” said Tee, grabbing her wand back while Fred wasn’t looking and poking him in the side with the handle end. She didn’t _really_ want to curse him, even if it was by accident.

She felt like she could breathe again when he was finally forced to move. This was the kind of thing she’d been meaning to avoid. She had no idea how she was going to keep dealing with this.

It was a wonder Tee made it through to the weekend without exploding from embarrassment. Fred didn’t seem to have noticed Tee had been acting strange and still continued to be his usual flirty, annoying self. At least now she could escape and just spend her time in the dormitory again.

She didn’t realise though that her increasing distance was taking the toll on her friend. Rose was currently hovering at the bottom of the stairs to the girls’ dormitories, trying to decide whether to go up or not. The twins had been up in their own dormitory, but Fred then ambled down and gave Rose a curious look when he spotted her just standing by the stairs.

“Are you lost?” he joked. “It’s not that difficult – you just walk forward.”

“Very funny,” said Rose sarcastically, still deciding.

Fred came over and leant against the wall facing her. “What’s up?”

“That’s what I’d like to know!” Rose suddenly burst out. “I want to know why she keeps shutting herself up there. I want to know which of us she’s trying to avoid – who knows; maybe it’s all of us! I just want to know what’s going on.”

She didn’t need to say names. Fred knew what she meant. He shrugged. “Maybe she likes the alone time.”

“I know you don’t believe that,” said Rose. “And I know this is bothering you more than you’re letting on. I know you and Tee have gotten pretty close, so don’t pretend you’re not annoyed at her.”

Fred didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t meet her eyes properly either. Rose instantly felt bad. George came across as the more sensitive twin, whilst Fred was the loud, confident one. It was weird seeing him looking awkward like this.

“Sorry,” Rose apologised, biting her lip. “I just wish she’d tell me.”

She looked so genuinely upset that Fred put his arms around her and gave her a hug. “Let’s just hope she gets it together soon. Whatever it is that’s bugging her.”

Rose just nodded and hugged him back. It was strange - it was like hugging George and yet totally different. She always seemed to fit against George perfectly. Fred felt all wrong in comparison. Still, it was a nice gesture on his part.

Just as she was thinking of him, George came down the stairs too. He gave Fred a questioning look. But it was more saying ‘why’s she upset’ rather than ‘why are you hugging my girlfriend?’

Fred turned Rose round and passed her into George’s arms instead. “Hey, it’s not my fault she got the wrong twin. We are identical, after all.”

Rose smiled and buried her face in George’s robes. This was better. She knew Fred was just joking to try and cheer her up and she was grateful for it. It would have worked except it reminded her that that was normally Tee’s job. She sighed. Fred was right – Tee had better sort her issues out soon.

XXX

Tee and Rose got down to the Great Hall pretty early for breakfast on Sunday. The twins had still been in their dormitory and, as usual, Tee had been hungry.

“Is it just me or do the Slytherins seem even more foul than usual today?” Rose pointed out.

Tee looked across at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, a big group of them were looking daggers at the Gryffindor table. She didn’t have chance to come up with a suggestion because the twins finally arrived and took up the seats opposite them.

“Montague’s been suspended!” exclaimed Fred.

“Well, that saves me coming up with an explanation then,” said Tee.

“What do you mean?” asked George.

“We were just saying how the Slytherins have been giving us the evil eye,” explained Tee. 

“I wonder what took them so long to suspend him,” Rose thought aloud. The last run-in they’d had with him had been at the Quidditch match, which had been over a month ago.

“Well, McGonagall did speak to Dumbledore after the match,” said George. “But then they had to look at it all from the start, including what happened in Transfiguration and the fight in Care of Magical Creatures. Then it all had to go through the school council.”

“Yeah, she just told us on our way down here,” added Fred.

“Well, thank God he’s gone,” said Rose. “I don’t think his friends are too happy about it though.”

George frowned. “Maybe we should wait until they’re gone before we go back up to the common room.”

The girls protested for a while – they knew George had suggested it for their benefit; he and Fred certainly weren't scared of the Slytherin bullies – but in the end, they agreed to just take their time over breakfast.

When they did leave the Great Hall, the corridor outside was empty. This seemed to keep the twins satisfied. They’d just entered the hallway where the main stairwell was when Tee’s legs suddenly buckled beneath her. She fell sideways and crashed painfully into Fred, who caught her before she hit the floor.

“You alright, Tee?” laughed Rose, thinking she’d just been her usual clumsy self and tripped over.

“I keep telling her she's always throwing herself at me,” grinned Fred. Tee would have been embarrassed if she hadn’t been concentrating so much on trying to stand. “Pick your feet up, Tee.”

“I can’t! I can’t feel my legs!” protested Tee, thoroughly confused and mortified.

“What have you done?” asked Fred, now realising that she really _couldn’t_ stand and just how much of her weight he was actually supporting.

“Nothing! They just went on me,” said Tee worriedly. She was trying to pick her feet up, but she just couldn’t feel anything. She tried to ignore the fact that she was clinging to Fred’s robes just to stay upright. How embarrassing.

They heard laughter coming from around the corner. The twins looked at one another. “How much do you wanna bet that’s Montague’s mates?” said George.

“If it is, they’re gonna wish they didn’t know him,” growled Fred, searching in the pocket of his robes for his wand.

“Hey!” Tee swayed when he shifted round. “If you move anywhere, I’m gonna end up on the floor!”

“We’d better get her to the hospital wing,” advised George. “They’ve probably jinxed her. I don’t know how to reverse jinxes.”

“But she can’t walk!” Rose pointed out.

“It’s alright; I’ll carry her,” Fred volunteered.

“No way!” cried Tee straightaway. “I’ll walk!”

Having to be carried would have been embarrassing enough – she remembered when she’d hurt her foot on holiday once and her uncle had had to piggyback her off the beach – but having Fred carry her would just be much, much worse.

Fred raised his eyebrows. “You can’t even stand; let alone walk.”

“No, it’s getting better. I can feel my legs more now,” lied Tee, trying desperately to wriggle her toes. Still nothing.

Fred smirked. “Let go of my robes then.”

Tee hesitated. She was _not_ going to be carried to the hospital wing. Maybe if she tried letting go, she’d get lucky and the feeling in her legs would just come back... She tried. She didn’t get lucky.

Fred grabbed her at the last moment and pulled her back up, laughing. “Now why don’t I believe you?”

Tee muttered grumpily to herself. She felt disorientated and was clutching Fred’s robes again. She was going to murder some Slytherins once she could walk.

“What’s going on here?” came an oily voice.

They all looked around. It was Professor Snape. As usual, making matters worse.

“Just pins and needles, Professor,” improvised Tee, feeling highly embarrassed. He must think she had no control over herself.

Professor Snape gave them his best unimpressed look. “I suggest you all go back to your common room and act like the fifth years you’re supposed to be. Stop loitering in the corridors.” He stalked off.

“Hospital wing then?” said Fred brightly once he’d gone.

“You are so not carrying me,” said Tee adamantly.

“I don’t think you can stop me, Kittykat,” grinned Fred wickedly, suddenly swinging her up and round into his arms.

Tee shrieked wordlessly at him. “Put me down! I don’t want to be carried!” Rose and George were both holding back giggles at her reaction.

“And why not?” asked Fred, acting like he was surprised to hear so.

Tee couldn’t think of a plausible excuse. “I’m heavy...”

Fred scoffed. “Don’t be thick. I remind you nearly every day how little you are.”

“I don’t think Tee likes being picked up,” Rose pointed out, still trying not to laugh.

Tee silently thanked her. She could forgive her for laughing – at least she was sticking up for her. This was awful. She didn’t think she’d ever blushed so much. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. She settled for covering her face with them.

“You’re not scared, are you?” asked Fred, seeming thoroughly amused by the whole thing. “I know this is a bit higher up than what you’re used to, but this is how normal-sized people see the world.”

Tee gritted her teeth. “I need to do something with my hands, so I don’t punch you in the face.” Threatening him made her feel a little better. Just a little.

As usual, Fred didn’t take her threats to heart. “I wish Snape wouldn’t keep turning up everywhere. He must get some weird ideas about us two. I bet he thinks you can’t keep your hands off me.”

Tee was trying hard to ignore him. Which was difficult when she was pressed so close against him. She wondered half-heartedly if the colour would ever fully drain from her face. She felt like she’d been wearing a permanent blush lately anyway.

“What are you talking about?” asked Rose.

“Well, there was that time when he caught us in Filch’s cupboard. And then there was the detention...” Fred listed. He realised Rose and George were staring at him. “What? Oh wait, you guys didn’t know about that.”

“What happened?” asked Rose suspiciously.

“Nothing!” Tee said quickly. “We’d been spying on you guys before we properly found out about you. And we had to hide in Filch’s cupboard, but we got locked in. Snape found us in there.” She left out the details of how they’d been sprawled on the floor – her on top of Fred. She’d been trying not to think about it.

“That’s what we got detention for,” explained Fred, who hadn’t taken any notice of Tee’s obviously lacking description. “Then you guys just appeared outside the dungeon we were in, so we tried to spy some more.”

“And he bloody picked me up again,” accused Tee, frowning up at him and immediately wishing she hadn’t. She met laughing brown eyes and looked away quickly, forgetting why she was mad at him.

“Why?” laughed Rose.

“Because she’s a pipsqueak and couldn’t see through the bars in the door,” grinned Fred. Tee elbowed him hard in the chest. “Ow! I’m only telling the truth.”

“So what then?” asked George. “Did Snape find you carrying her around the room or something?”

“No, we both ended up on the floor because Fred’s a clumsy oaf,” Tee cut in.

“Don’t make me drop you, because I will,” Fred threatened, his eyes sparkling. Tee didn’t believe him for a second. She wished he wouldn’t use that look on her though.

“No wonder he’s suspicious about you two,” Rose giggled. “It does all sound a bit dodgy.”

“It’s mostly you two we have to blame anyway,” Fred pointed out. “None of it would have happened if we hadn’t had to spy on you.”

“Well, we didn’t exactly ask to be followed,” said George sarcastically. “So don’t go blaming us.”

“Following you wasn’t even the funniest part,” Fred continued. “Tee first guessed about you guys after the pool party, so she came up to the dorm to tell me...”

Tee tensed in his arms. Oh, hell no... She’d hoped he’d forgotten about that night. She could feel heat rising in her face again. Stupid hormones. Though she was glad that she wasn’t a guy – they were generally cursed with a more embarrassing display of testosterone.

“Does this mean I’m gonna find out why you disappeared for so long that night?” Rose asked Tee. All she got was a sheepish look in response.

“Hang on,” interrupted George. “I came up to bed not that long after you when the party finished. I’d have seen Tee come down the stairs.”

“Not if she was still in the dorm, you wouldn’t,” smirked Fred.

George gave Tee a quizzical look. “Where on earth did you find to hide in our dorm?”

Tee couldn’t quite answer. It didn’t really matter though – she knew Fred would answer anyway. She was trying hard enough not to remember. Just the memory was making her feel hot all over.

“In my bed,” grinned Fred.

George and Rose burst out laughing. “You’re kidding!” exclaimed Rose.

“Seriously, you were there the whole time?” George asked Tee incredulously.

Tee just nodded, still looking sheepish. She wondered if her face could get any redder... Turned out it could.

“She even fell asleep,” chortled Fred. “I had to wake her up and turf her out.”

“No wonder you wouldn’t tell me where you’d been!” giggled Rose.

To Tee’s relief, they’d now reached the hospital wing. “Okay, you can put me down now.”

“Why? Aren’t you enjoying it?” teased Fred, holding her even closer to his chest.

“No, I want down,” insisted Tee. She was going to have a premature stroke if he didn’t leave her alone.

Thankfully, he obeyed her this time and set her down in one of the chairs just inside the hospital wing. Tee relished the cool air. She wondered if she’d been feeling so warm just because of embarrassment or if Fred really was part werewolf.

Tee had grown to worship Madam Pomfrey. Not only had she cured her of simple headaches and a Quidditch-related very near skull fracture; but she also knew the anti-jinx Tee needed straight off and had brought the feeling back to her legs in a second. It did feel a bit like pins and needles now, but at least she could walk unaided and didn’t have to be carried anymore. Once they reached the common room, she planned to spend the rest of the day in her dormitory. She didn’t think she could take anymore.

Her plan worked for a few hours until the battery on her iPod finally ran out. It was a relief in a way. She’d been watching more Ouran Host Club and it had just been the episode of Haruhi and Hikaru’s first date. Even watching that had made her feel weird. She wished she’d never related Hikaru to Fred. Her head wasn't an entirely fun place right now.

She supposed she should go down to the common room. She’d just sit and chat to Rose. And if Rose was busy with George, she could always just hang around with Kayley and Sumayyah. Marie wasn’t in the common room that much now. It turned out her antics with Curly-Bop at the pool party had turned into a potential relationship. She’d been spending most of her time with him.

When Tee did go down to the common room, however, it was completely empty. That sucked. It wasn’t out of the ordinary though. Most students preferred to roam the castle and the grounds during the weekends, rather than just staying in their common rooms.

Tee went to sit in front of the fire. She watched the flames for a while and fell into a doze. She was then woken abruptly only ten minutes later by someone jumping next to her on the sofa. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know who it was. Her stomach took somewhat of a dip, but she tried to stay cool. “That was a bit uncalled for.”

“But I’m bored,” complained Fred. “So _I_ think it was called for.”

Tee did open her eyes then. She looked round the common room. It was still empty. “Where’s Rose and George?”

Fred shrugged. “They went off for some privacy somewhere. I’ve been a bit of a third wheel.”

Tee winced. That made it sound like she wasn’t even included in the group anymore. Though she knew it was her own fault for acting so ridiculous over the whole thing. She just couldn’t help it.

“What’s going on, Tee? You need to tell me,” Fred pleaded.

Tee shook her head furiously. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” asked Fred.

Plenty of reasons, Tee thought to herself. First one jumping to mind... “You’ll laugh.”

Fred smiled. “I laugh at lots of things.”

“Exactly,” said Tee. The silence that followed was awkward. It was obvious she wasn’t going to tell him anything.

Fred sighed. “Well, whatever you’ve got issues with, you need to get it sorted. Rose has been really upset about it.”

Oh great, now he was telling her off for upsetting her own best friend. What a way to make her feel even worse. He didn’t seem annoyed at her though, thankfully.

“And it’s kinda left me with no one to hang out with,” Fred added. “It’s easy to tell when George and Rose want some alone time.”

Tee bit her lip. She remembered that Fred didn’t like being on his own. “You really don’t like being alone, do you?”

Fred just laughed. “I’m a big boy. I think I can cope.”

Tee rolled her eyes. She didn’t know why most of the male population didn’t seem to like admitting to weaknesses. It seemed to be some sort of genetic thing in guys. Whether this was Fred’s weakness or not, she decided that she wasn’t going to avoid him anymore. Even if it embarrassed her, she was going to put more effort in. It wasn’t fair to him otherwise. She _knew_ he’d once admitted that he disliked being alone.

“Sorry,” she apologised. “I promise I’ll be good from now on.”

Fred beamed and put his arm around her. “Not that’s what I like to hear, Kittykat.”

Tee didn’t flinch away like she would have done. She felt the familiar flush creep back, but she ignored it. If she still wanted to stay close friends with him, she was going to have to force herself not to be such an idiot.


	17. Slowly Back To Normal

Over the next few days, Tee had been as good as gold. She’d pushed away any embarrassing thoughts, which had been surprisingly easy to do. If only she’d done that sooner, instead of getting flustered over every little thing. It all felt pretty much back to normal now. Rose was happier too since her friend had been including herself more.

Tee still hadn’t told her though. She didn’t want to confide in anyone at Hogwarts – she’d always had a feeling that when people knew she liked a guy, they’d be scrutinising her every move around him.

What she needed was someone she could tell everything to who didn’t share her life at Hogwarts. Which was why she’d spent the last hour in the dormitory writing a long letter to Ariadne – her other best friend back home – detailing everything. She may not get a reply straightaway, but it had felt good to put everything down on paper. Even though she’d been dealing with it fine for the last few days, it was still nice to be able to tell someone about it.

When she went down to the common room, Rose looked round straightaway. “We wondered where you were!”

“You’re not living in your dorm again, are you?” asked George.

“Nope.” Tee shook her head and held up the tied roll of parchment. “I’m just going down to the Owlery. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Who are you writing to?” asked Rose.

“Have you got a secret boyfriend?” teased Fred.

Tee ignored Fred and answered Rose instead. “Just Ariadne.”

“Aww, I miss Ariadne,” Rose lamented. “We used to have some great conversations about Xena.”

“That’s one thing I _don’t_ miss,” Tee chuckled.

“What’s Xena?” interrupted George.

“A 'lesbian' television programme,” answered Tee. She hid the letter behind her back – Fred had been eyeing it interestedly. “Which is why Ariadne likes it so much.”

George gave Rose an amused look. “Why do you like it then?”

“Because it’s good!” insisted Rose.

Tee choked back a laugh. “It really isn’t. The only good thing I can say about it is that Ares guy was... Hey!” She felt her heart skip. Fred had just snatched the letter from behind her.

“I wanna know what you and your lesbian friend talk about,” said Fred, fumbling with the string holding the roll together.

“Give it back, Fred!” Tee demanded, attempting to grab it.

It was a futile attempt. She ended up practically running round him in circles, whilst he twirled around holding it high in the air, way out of her reach. Fred found this very amusing. And to Tee’s annoyance, so did Rose and George. Rose obviously didn’t realise it was important, because Tee had no doubt that her friend would have been on her side otherwise.

“I just want a little peek,” grinned Fred, stepping away and closer to the sofa. "I was only teasing you, but now I'm _really_ interested to know."

Tee followed and quickly climbed onto the sofa, hoping it would give her the extra height she needed. She suddenly felt her stomach drop. He’d managed to pull the string off. She’d put _everything_ in that letter. She still wasn't entirely sure if he was bluffing or not, but no way could she risk letting him see any of it.

Just as Fred started to unroll the parchment, she leapt wildly onto his back. Hanging onto his neck with one arm, she plunged her other hand into her pocket. She whipped out her wand and aimed it over his shoulder at the letter, shouting “Evanesco!”

The words Vanished from the parchment before her eyes. She’d never been so relieved. She gave many silent thanks to Professor McGonagall for teaching them that one.

“Aww, you’re such a spoilsport!” complained Fred.

He tipped her off back onto the sofa. Tee was just contemplating escaping back to the dormitory when he suddenly jumped on top of her, pinning her arms back. Startled and embarrassed, she jerked forward instinctively, accidentally cracking her forehead against his in the process.

“Ow!” they both cried.

George and Rose were now roaring with laughter. So were the other Gryffindors that were in the room at the time, including Kayley and Sumayyah, Sam and Jensen and Harry Potter’s third-year trio.

“You guys are better than any sitcom,” giggled Rose.

Tee should have been proud with that comment. Rose had never watched any sitcoms until Tee had recently introduced her to some of her favourites, but right now, she had a sore head to distract her, not to mention the fact that Fred was still on top of her.

“I don’t think it was that funny,” she grumbled, rubbing her head. 

“Were you going in for the kiss there, Tee?” grinned Fred.

Tee felt her face flood red hot. “I’ll crack your head again with my fist in a minute,” she threatened, trying to push him off.

She wished he wasn’t so much bigger than she was. Actually, no, she wished she was bigger herself. Being short had all the drawbacks and no particular good points she could think of. Eventually, he let her up and she did escape back to the dormitory with the blank letter he’d tossed aside. Her face was still warm. She may have been trying to be good for the last few days, but she reckoned she was still allowed to be embarrassed over him literally jumping on her.

She was annoyed about the letter though. She didn’t know how to reverse the Vanishing spell. But she hadn’t dared to leave the blank parchment, just in case anyone else _did_ know how to reveal what she’d wrote. Now she was going to have to start over. She sighed and found out her quill and inkwell again.

XXX

Tee was happy that she got to have Rose all to herself in Muggle Studies the next day. Professor Burbage had been called out of the lesson by one of her older students, so the class had a small break to themselves. This was good, because Tee had been meaning to ask Rose something in particular.

“How did you and George actually get together?” she brought up once Professor Burbage had left. 

Rose laughed. “You’ve only just thought about it?”

Tee smiled sheepishly. “Well, it was all such a surprise when we first found out... I never really thought to ask before.”

“Fair enough,” agreed Rose. “Well, it properly started after the Quidditch match against Slytherin. Remember when you hit your head?”

“I _think_ I can remember that,” Tee joked. “So I’m guessing something went on when you two buggered off for so long?”

“Hey, that was partly because we couldn’t find Professor McGonagall,” Rose defended, though she was smiling. “But yeah.”

“So what happened?” pressed Tee.

“I’d kinda been eyeing on Jensen,” Rose admitted. “Harmlessly, I swear - I was never really _that_ into him. Then George was insisting on some shortcut and I _knew_ he was avoiding Jensen on purpose.”

“God, Rose, you’re not supposed to try and stalk without me,” Tee teased.

Rose just smiled and carried on. “I’d thought George had been acting weird anyway. He’d been dancing around me all week.”

Tee could vaguely remember Fred saying something about it that day. She tried not to think about how she’d been acting the same recently. “Did you just ask him why then?”

“Pretty much,” replied Rose. “I just asked if he was alright and said that he’d seemed a bit off.”

“And?” Tee prompted.

“And he just confessed everything,” beamed Rose. “He said that he’d liked me for ages and he’d been meaning to tell me for the last several days. So I said I felt the same.”

“Then what?” asked Tee interestedly.

“Well, then it was a little awkward,” laughed Rose. “I mean, what do you do after you admit you like someone and they admit it back?”

Tee could only think of one answer to that – it seemed fairly obvious to her. “Err, you snog!”

“Oh...” Rose laughed again. “Well, we didn’t get to that straightaway. We just talked for ages.”

“That’s nice, I guess,” said Tee. She laughed. “Not quite what I’d prefer to do, but obviously it’s more your kind of thing.”

“Exactly,” grinned Rose. She looked like she was going to elaborate, but just then Professor Burbage came back to finally start teaching the lesson.

After Muggle Studies, the girls headed back up to the common room. Rose went straight over to sit with George, who instinctively put his arm around her. Tee smiled to herself. She generally found couples as a whole quite sickening, but there was no way she could deny that George and Rose were anything other than cute.

“Where’s Fred?” asked Tee, still hovering near the portrait hole. He was nowhere to be seen.

“He went to nick some food from the kitchens,” said George.

No sooner had he said it, Fred clambered through the portrait hole behind Tee. He was carrying a stack of cauldron cakes. “What have you got those for?” Tee asked, looking amused.

“A peace offering,” said Fred innocently, holding one out to her.

“Oh dear,” said Tee, pointedly not taking it. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“I’ve only just remembered that it’s been almost a month now. Way more than a week,” said Fred meaningfully. Tee still looked at him, nonplussed, so he carried on. “You’ve got to show me your tattoo.”

Tee made a face. She’d forgotten about that. “...I don’t want to.”

“You _promised_ ,” pleaded Fred, giving her his best puppy dog look yet again. Tee groaned. She wished he wouldn’t do that. “Come over here if you don’t want everyone looking.”

He pulled her into a corner. Oh great, this isn’t going to look dodgy, thought Tee. Thankfully, he was right – nobody seemed to be paying any attention. Tee glared at him. “Fine. But just quickly.”

She only had to reach for the waistband on her jeans and Fred’s face broke into a grin. “God, Tee, I only wanted to see your tattoo. You don’t need to do a strip tease for me.”

Tee let her hand fall. “Okay, forget it. I knew you’d do this.” She made to walk away, but Fred caught her arm and pulled her back again.

“Sorry, I’ll behave,” he promised, though he was still grinning. Tee didn’t believe him for a second. “Now I’m more curious as to _where_ you’ve got your tattoo.”

“It’s on my stomach, you loser,” said Tee, rolling her eyes. Though she still grudgingly pulled up her shirt slightly and tugged down the waistband of her jeans to reveal her heartagram tattoo.

“Wow,” whistled Fred, looking impressed. “That’s pretty big for a first tattoo. Didn’t it hurt?”

Tee shrugged. “Not really. Not as much as I thought it would.”

Fred grinned. “Did you cry?”

Tee gave him a withering look. “No. I wouldn’t cry over a tattoo.”

Fred still looked amused. “You don’t have to act tough, Tee. You can still cry if you want.” He hugged her head and ruffled her hair.

“Hey, get off!” protested Tee. “And I _didn’t_ cry!”

“Fred, are you harassing my kitty again?” Rose called from across the room. “Don’t make me come over there!”

“Of course I’m not,” replied Fred innocently.

“He is!” Tee tried to say. It was made more difficult by Fred trying to cover her mouth with his hand. She managed to smack him away. “Do that again and I’ll bite your fingers.”

“Now, now, children,” teased George. He and Rose were happily watching over the back of the sofa. “Be good or we won’t take you with us to Hogsmeade over the weekend.”

“That’s a point...” Fred said suddenly, eyeing Tee suspiciously. “Where did you actually get your tattoo done? Was it in Hogsmeade?”

“Well, yeah,” replied Tee. “It was hardly done in the castle.”

“When?”

“Boxing Day,” said Tee, not sure where this was going.

“But we didn’t have a Hogsmeade visit then. How did you get there without being caught by one of the teachers?” Fred asked.

“Oh,” Tee realised. “I used that secret passageway behind the one-eyed witch statue on the third floor.”

Now Fred really looked impressed. “You found that secret passageway all by yourself?”

Tee shrugged. She decided not to mention that Harry Potter had actually told her about it when he’d overheard her complaining to Kayley and Sumayyah about needing a secret way out of the castle. “Well, _you_ never showed me any secret passageways like you said you would,” she accused him.

Fred didn’t seem bothered by the accusation. He just grinned and pulled her into a hug again. “Aww, I’m proud of you, Tee!”

“Oh, get off!” complained Tee, peeling him off her. She turned back to Rose and George in an attempt to change the subject. “So there’s a Hogsmeade visit this weekend?”

“Yeah, but you won’t like it,” Rose pointed out.

Tee was confused. “Why not?”

“Guess what day Saturday is,” Rose hinted.

Tee mulled it over. They were in February now – there weren’t any important dates in February. The only one she could think of was her sister’s birthday, but that wasn’t for a few weeks yet. Unless...

“Oh, hell,” groaned Tee. “Valentine’s Day? Are you kidding me?”

Rose laughed. “I said you wouldn’t like it.”

“Yeah, you guys are on your own for that,” grumbled Tee. She hated Valentine’s Day. It was just a way for companies to make more money. Plus it meant all couples were bound to be extra sickening.

“Well, that’s what we were hoping,” grinned George, pulling Rose closer. “No offence, Tee.”

Tee couldn’t help but smile. This would be Rose’s first ever official date. “None taken. Best of luck, guys!”

“I think we’ll do just fine without luck,” George smiled back, causing Rose to smile too.

Fred was obviously feeling very left out in this conversation. “So what do I get to do on Valentine’s Day?”

“You get to stay here and hassle Tee,” said George.

“Oh god, don’t tell him that!” complained Tee. “You’ll only give him ideas.”

“Don’t want me to be your valentine then?” Fred winked at her.

“Only when hell freezes over...” Tee muttered.

“Tee didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day even when she had a boyfriend,” giggled Rose.

The twins laughed. “That’s a bit harsh,” they said simultaneously.

“I know,” Tee grinned sheepishly. “I just really don’t do V Day. It’s soppy and way too commercialised.”

“Plus Lewis was a twat and didn’t deserve it,” interrupted Kayley, as she and Sumayyah joined them. Their group had whittled down to just the two of them now. Marie was almost always with her new Hufflepuff boyfriend.

The twins were taken aback. Whenever they’d seen Tee’s sister, she’d always seemed quite happy-go-lucky. Now her face was like thunder. “Why? What did he do?” asked Fred.

“He treated Tee like shit, even when she told him that it bothered her how he was with other girls,” growled Kayley. “Then he ditched her for someone else.”

Everyone looked at Tee. She looked awkward at the sudden revelation to everyone, but she laughed it off. “Kayls shouted at him. A _lot_! It was brilliant.”

Surprisingly, it was George who said sympathetically, “You deserve better than that, Tee.” Fred seemed to be having trouble finding his words.

“Oh... Err, thanks, George,” said Tee, embarrassed. “To be honest, I feel I’m better off without guys – I’ve never had much luck with them. They always have other girls they prefer.”

There was an awkward silence. Tee had a serious complex about only being second best. Rose, Kayley and Sumayyah all knew that. Fred and George were just starting to realise it. Tee still looked embarrassed, especially after realising that she'd maybe said too much. She now regretted saying anything at all.

Then, to everyone’s amusement, Fred suddenly grabbed her in a tight hug, exclaiming, “Don’t worry, Kittykat! You’ll always be my priority.”

“Yeah, your priority to _annoy_ ,” groaned Tee, elbowing him in response. Though she did reluctantly hug him back. He was sweet trying to cheer her up, but she couldn’t help thinking it would have been nice if he’d really meant it.

“Aww, the poor boy just proclaimed his love for you. Don’t reject him,” teased Rose, giggling.

“Yeah Tee, I’m heartbroken,” mocked Fred, clutching his chest.

Tee rolled her eyes, trying not to blush. She’d been getting better at it lately, but he never made things easy. “You’re resilient; you’ll bounce right back.” She turned to Rose and hastily changed the subject. “So what are you guys gonna do in Hogsmeade?”

“You’ve definitely gone off the idea then?” grinned George.

Tee made a face. “Being stuck in Hogsmeade surrounded by lots of lovey-dovey couples? Yeesh. I think I’ll stay in bed all day.”

“That’s what me and Kayls do every weekend,” Sumayyah laughed.

“Well, we’re just gonna have a wander around, look in some shops, maybe sit in Madam Puddifoot’s,” said Rose, answering Tee’s question. Madam Puddifoot’s was Hogsmeade’s cute little teashop. No doubt it’d be very romantic for Valentine’s Day.

“Sounds great,” lied Tee, resisting the urge to pull another face. No one was fooled. They all laughed.

XXX

Rose was woken up the next day by a very excited “Rose, Rose, Rose!” She opened her eyes to find Tee sat on the end of her bed, bouncing up and down. “What is it?”

“It’s snowed again!” exclaimed Tee happily.

“Wow, we’ve definitely filled our quota for snow recently,” commented Rose, obediently getting out of bed and going to look out of the window. “It’s so pretty. I wonder if my camera will work here...”

“You brought your camera to Hogwarts?” asked Tee.

“Yeah,” smiled Rose sheepishly. “Just in case.”

“Camera whore,” teased Tee. She knew how carried away her friend could get with taking photos. “Why don’t you go get it and test it out now on the snow?”

“Okay!” obliged Rose. She went and found her camera out of her trunk before returning to the window.

“You not got your digital one?” asked Tee, eyeing the old-fashioned Polaroid camera in Rose’s hands.

Rose shook her head. “This is Mum’s. I figured it’d have more chance of working here than my one.”

“Let’s find out then,” said Tee, pushing the window open as far as she could.

Rose held the camera out of the window. She looked through the viewfinder to find the image she wanted and clicked the button at the top. An undeveloped photo popped out of the slot. The longer she left it under the light, the quicker the lines and colours filled in.

“It works!” beamed Rose, inspecting her perfect postcard-sized snow scene.

“Excellent!” exclaimed Tee, taking the camera. Ignoring the fact that she had impressive bed hair and that they were both still in their pyjamas, she turned the camera round on them and snapped a picture with their faces smushed together.

Rose laughed. She was used to Tee’s familiar selfie style photos. She wasn’t very good at them herself. She always seemed to cut the side of someone’s face off. They were just giggling over the newly developed photo when one of the other girls stirred in their sleep. They both dropped their voices immediately.

“I wish we could go play in the snow,” Tee whispered wistfully. 

“Too bad we’ve got lessons today.” Rose glanced over at Tee’s cow clock. “And everyone will be getting up in about ten minutes.”

“Boo,” grumbled Tee. “Oh well, at least we’ll be first in line for breakfast.”

The lessons were a disaster that day. Everybody was too restless. All anybody wanted was to be out playing in the snow. The teachers were getting frustrated at the lack of concentration and at students passing notes and throwing things around the classrooms. Poor Professor Trelawney completely lost her temper with her particularly rowdy class on the afternoon – the last lesson of the day.

“I can’t work with you like this!” she suddenly screeched over the babble. “You’re completely clouding my Inner Eye and you’re not helping your own chances of Seeing! When I get back, I want to hear _silence_!”

With that, she stormed out down the trapdoor, leaving her very bemused class behind only twenty minutes into their lesson.

“Weird old bat. Knew she’d lose it someday,” said Fred brightly.

“And what’s she talking about? You can’t _hear_ silence,” added George, equally happy.

“I wonder where she’s gone,” Rose wondered aloud, the only one showing any remote signs of concern. 

“Probably for a drink,” joked Tee. “Oh well. Doss lesson!”

Rose seemed to brighten as this comment brought a particular thought to her mind. “We can take pictures!” She turned the camera on Tee, who promptly ducked out of shot. Tee hated being in photos on her own. “Come on, Tee!”

“No way,” laughed Tee. She held her hand out. “Gimme! I’ll take one of you and George.”

“How does that thing even work here?” asked Fred, as Rose passed the camera around. “It’s a Muggle camera, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s an old Polaroid one,” explained Rose. “That’s probably why the magic doesn’t mess with it. I’ve seen one of the second years with one and his seems to work fine too.”

“Say cheese!” insisted Tee, who wasn’t too interested in the explanation, holding up the camera.

Rose laughed and happily obliged. She shuffled closer to George, who put his arm around her. Tee pressed the button on the camera and the photo popped out of the bottom. She passed them back over to Rose, who watched as the photo developed with a smile on her face.

“I like that one!” said Rose happily, admiring the picture. She flipped the camera round. “Tee, let me take one of you and Fred.”

Tee cursed herself silently. She should have seen that one coming. Rose really was a notorious picture monster. Fred, on the other hand, seemed particularly happy with the idea.

“Great! We can use this on our wedding invitations,” he teased, slinging an arm across Tee’s shoulders. He still hadn’t forgotten Professor Trelawney’s prediction from their lesson on palm reading.

Tee rolled her eyes. “Let it go; just because she said red hair doesn’t mean you. You never know, I might meet one of your older brothers and fall madly in love with him.” Everyone knew the Weasleys were a big family – they had two older brothers who had already finished at Hogwarts.

Fred pretended to be hurt. “Surely you wouldn’t do that to me!” He then grinned and tightened his arm around her shoulders. “We all know I’m the only one you want.”

“Bighead,” muttered Tee, elbowing him in the ribs. She hated that he was a lot closer to the mark than he could ever suspect.

Rose and George both looked amused by their exchange, as they always were. “Just let Rose take the damn photo,” chortled George. “If she holds that camera for much longer without taking any pictures, she’s probably gonna explode.”

Rose laughed at that comment. “You know me too well.”

Tee smiled too. “Yeah, okay then.” She couldn’t really miss such a simple chance to make her best friend happy.

Still only partly reluctant, she leaned into Fred. Ah well. She might as well make the most of the opportunity. She could always try and steal the photo off Rose later on. She laced her fingers through Fred’s – on the hand that was resting against her shoulder. If he was surprised by it, he didn’t show it.

Rose seemed pleased by her friend’s compliance and took the photo. She handed the undeveloped card across to Tee so that she could watch it form. Tee bit her lip, trying to hide her smile. She actually had to admit to herself that it was a damn cute photo. Though she wouldn’t be admitting that to anyone else.

She showed it to Rose, who beamed. “Aww, that’s actually really cute! You can keep that one if you like!”

Tee looked at her friend in surprise. Had she known what she’d been thinking? But Rose just gave her a happy smile. She didn’t suspect anything; she was just being nice, as usual. Tee smiled back. “Thanks, Rose.”

Fred grinned and gave Tee a very meaningful nudge. “Are you going to sleep with that under your pillow?”

Tee elbowed him again in response. “I’ll be shoving your face under a pillow if you’re not careful.” Their fingers were still entwined. Tee tried to tug her hand away lightly, wanting to pass it off as a casual movement. 

Unfortunately, Fred didn’t seem to want to cooperate and didn’t let go. “You’re very mean to me, Kittykat,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “What did I ever do to you?”

“Just existing is enough,” replied Tee, though she couldn’t help smiling as she said it, ruining the effect. She had a new idea. “Let me have a picture with Rose.” She pulled her hand away again and this time, Fred obligingly let her. She shuffled around the table next to Rose, who seemed thrilled with the idea. 

“Can you take this one for us please, Fred?” asked Rose sweetly, passing the camera over.

“Sure.” Fred then glanced at Tee. “See? At least Rose asks for things nicely.”

“When did I ask you for anything?” asked Tee, confused.

“Well, there was that time you wanted me to come to bed with you...” Fred started slowly, grinning.

“When did I ever ask _that_?” Tee protested in an exasperated tone. Rose and George both started to laugh.

As the banter went on, Tee realised something... This was getting easier. She wasn’t getting embarrassed over every little thing he said or did anymore. It just felt like they were back to normal. She smiled to herself. Maybe she really wouldn’t have to stay such a basket case after all.

Sadly, Tee and Rose’s photo was interrupted by the reappearance of Professor Trelawney. Fred deftly swung the camera under the table and out of sight before she could spot it. Rose gave him a grateful nod. She had a lot of plans for her camera now – that would all be spoilt if it got confiscated.

Professor Trelawney cleared her throat loudly to make sure she had everybody’s attention. The class reluctantly switched their attention to her. She looked considerably calmer than she had when she’d stormed out.

“Now then, class... Please open your copies of ‘Unfogging The Future’ and turn to page twenty-three,” she began, as if nothing had happened. There were stifled groans from around the room as everybody sunk back into their usual stupor.

The lesson seemed to drag a lot more than usual. Perhaps it was the prospect of the snow waiting outside that was making time tick by so slowly. Finally, the bell rang and everybody clamoured to get out of the stuffy, perfume-filled room. The twins were eager to get outside and started up a snowball fight, but Tee insisted that they go back up to the dorms first so that Rose could get her gloves and scarf. Rose tended to run on colder blood than most people – she always had cold hands and feet.

“You really are a little vampire, aren’t you?” said George teasingly when she came back down into the common room, gloves and scarf in place.

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Little?” As always, she wasn’t at all bothered by the vampire comment.

“That must make _you_ microscopic,” Fred told Tee cheerfully, patting her on the head.

“There’s a snowball somewhere outside with your name on it,” Tee grumbled.

Her threat proved to be quite futile though, because Fred turned out to be much better at throwing snowballs than she was. Eventually, both Tee and Rose took shelter behind George, who then started his own snowball match against Fred when a well-aimed clump of snow hit him straight in the ear.

“Let’s go hide,” Tee laughed, as George chased after Fred, armed with a rather large snowball. She grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her round the other side of one of the bent over trees.

“You know it won’t take long before they gang up on us,” Rose pointed out.

“Yeah. What we need is some _real_ ammo,” said Tee, looking around for inspiration. Her gaze moved upwards to the tree that was sheltering them. The low-hung branches were completely caked with snow. “I’ve got a brilliant idea...”

Sure enough, the twins soon got bored of hurling snowballs at each other and decided to try their luck on the girls instead. Tee and Rose were able to use the tree as a shield to deter most of the snowballs until the twins got closer to them.

Rose whipped her wand out of her pocket. “Protego!” An invisible shield protected Tee from being hit in the face by one of Fred’s snowballs. Tee ducked back behind the tree and gave her friend a grateful smile.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” protested Fred.

“All’s fair in love and war!” shouted Tee, laughing. “For example...” She pulled out her own wand and aimed it at the snowy canopy of the tree. “Reducto!”

Her spell smacked the branches and they swayed wildly from side to side, the snow cascading down onto the twins below. Both boys yelled and tried to shield themselves, whilst the girls skipped out of the way just in time.

“Okay, we give!” shouted Fred, holding his hands in the air. George followed suit. “You win!”

Tee and Rose cheered and laughed, slapping each other high fives. The twins trudged over to join them, wet and grouchy.

“That was just playing dirty,” Fred grumbled.

“Hey, you were the one that started all this in the first place,” Tee pointed out, still amused. She wasn’t for much longer though, because Fred had balled up another snowball and suddenly plunged it down the neck of her robes. Tee shrieked, feeling the cold wet mush sliding down her back. “Fred, you git!”

“Now we’re even,” Fred grinned. “I’m sure you’re no colder than I am now.” Tee just swore colourfully at him in response.

Rose had scooted out of their way, still giggling at the pair of them. George moved round to join her. “You know, you were part of her little scheme too.”

“No way, that was all Tee,” Rose insisted. “I was just along for the ride.”

George grinned. “Oh, really? So you don’t think you deserve to be punished too?”

“Of course not,” said Rose, giving him her best innocent look.

George’s grin widened, just as mischievous as Fred’s. “Well, I do.” He then threw his wet arms around her in a giant bear hug.

Rose squealed, trying to wriggle away. But her squeals soon turned to giggles as he rubbed his sodden hair along the side of her face. “You’re worse than my old cat!” She paused before adding as an afterthought, “And just as ginger.”

George laughed, pulling back so that he could see her face. His expression softened. “And you look just like an angel framed against all this snow.”

“Are you kidding? I’m so evil, hell would spit me back out,” Rose joked. She’d never been great at accepting compliments.

That just made George laugh even more. “God, you’re so weird sometimes. That’s just one of the things I love about you.” He leant in and brushed a soft kiss against her lips.

“See, how is that fair?” Tee interrupted loudly, without thinking about what she was saying. “Rose gets all the nice stuff for ‘punishment’ and I get a snowball down my back.”

Fred gave her his most roguish smile. “Are you saying you want me to hug and kiss _you_ like George did?”

Tee felt herself blush, even though she tried to fight it. If it had still been snowing, surely the snowflakes would have melted instantly to steam against her cheeks. “Wait, no, that’s not what I meant...”

Fred just laughed at her. “I’m pretty sure that’s what you were implying, Kittykat.” He grabbed her in a hug like George had done with Rose, soaking her even more against his wet robes.

“Ew, you’re all cold and wet!” Tee protested, half-heartedly pushing against his chest.

“And now so are you,” grinned Fred. Without warning, he then planted a quick, hot kiss on her mouth.

Tee froze, her heart skipping several beats. He’d just kissed her. Why had he just kissed her? “You just kissed me,” she practically stuttered.

“Well, I did kinda pre-warn you.” Fred frowned at the look on her face. “We’ve kissed before; I didn’t think it was supposed to be a big deal.”

Wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. “That was at a party. It’s kinda different at parties.”

“Why?”

Tee shrugged, still in Fred’s arms. “It just is.” She felt a little uncomfortable and it clearly showed, though it was mostly because she was trying to get her heart rate back under control.

Fred sighed. “Sorry, Tee, I was only playing. I didn’t mean to cross a line.”

Tee shook her head. He wasn’t crossing a line. It wasn’t bad. It just confused her – it was weird that it meant more to her than it did to him. “You didn’t; you just... caught me by surprise.”

Just like that, the awkwardness evaporated and Fred grinned again. “Because I was _that_ good?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking,” said Tee sarcastically.

“Tee!” Rose suddenly called, cutting in and grabbing their attention. “You two stay there a minute. Let me take a picture!” She’d already fished her camera out from the deep pocket of her robes.

Tee rolled her eyes. “The camera monster strikes again.” In truth, she was glad for the interruption. She didn’t want to allow time for the atmosphere between her and Fred to turn stale a second time.

“Should I kiss you again for the picture?” Fred teased.

Tee elbowed him hard in the ribs in response. She’d twisted round in his arms so that she was facing the right way and so that they didn’t look quite so much like a couple. Their friendship line kept getting blurred in her mind and she needed to stop it.

“Tee, stop abusing Fred just for five seconds so I can take this!” Rose shouted, though she was laughing.

“Sorry, Rose,” Tee grinned sheepishly.

“That’s a tall order you’re asking there, Rose,” said Fred.

“Well, you do keep asking for it,” Tee pointed out.

“Tee. Just smile before Rose has a breakdown,” George interrupted, looking amused.

Tee was tempted to protest that Fred had started it, but she kept her mouth shut for her best friend’s sake and did as George said. Once Rose had taken the photo, she finally had a good reason to step out of Fred’s arms. “Here, I’ll take one of you and George,” she told her friend, trying to sound casual.

The camera was passed between hands and this time, Rose and George posed for the photograph. Rose beamed once it had been taken. “Thanks, Tee!”

“No problem,” replied Tee, giving the camera back. “I take it you guys are gonna take this with you on V Day too?” She was so against the holiday that she didn’t even really like saying the name of it.

“Of course!” exclaimed Rose happily, patting her camera fondly.

“So even though you guys aren’t coming with us, you’ll still feel like you were there, because we’ll have a frame-by-frame documentation of it,” George teased.

“Don’t be mean. I’m not that bad,” Rose pouted, poking her boyfriend in the ribs.

“So what are you guys gonna do in Hogsmeade?” asked Fred.

George shrugged. “We hadn’t really planned much in particular. We thought we’d look in some shops and that, but nothing definite.”

“We figured a lot of places will be busy since it’s Valentine’s Day,” Rose added. “So we’ll just see when we get there. What about you? What are you gonna do all day?”

Fred shrugged in a perfect imitation of George. Well, it was easy when they were identical. “Just a normal Saturday to me.”

“I’m still spending the day in bed,” Tee announced resolutely.

“Tee’s being bitter,” said Fred knowingly.

“I am not!” Tee protested. “I said it already – being single has nothing to do with it. It’s just a stupid holiday.”

“Have you really never spent Valentine’s Day with a guy?” George asked disbelievingly.

“Well... I did once,” Tee admitted. “But that was sort of an accident.”

Fred looked amused. “How exactly was it an accident?”

“We just arranged to meet up and I didn’t realise what day it was on,” explained Tee offhandedly.

Both twins laughed. “Only you could be that ignorant,” grinned Fred.

Tee just rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever.” She’d gotten a lot of stick from her friends for going out with Ben on Valentine’s Day – nobody had believed that she just hadn’t realised. It had taken ages to quash _those_ rumours.

“That’s just part of Tee that everyone has to accept,” Rose chimed in, sticking up for her friend. “If she hates Valentine’s Day, then she hates Valentine’s Day. We don’t care.”

Tee beamed at her. “Aww, thanks, Rose!” She gave her a half hug, not wanting to get her friend even more wet than she already was.

“You’re welcome.” Rose gave her a wide smile, before bringing the attention back to her camera. “Now... Let’s go find a new location so we can take more pictures.”

The twins rolled their eyes in perfect unison and Tee just laughed. “Oh, Rose, don’t ever change.”


	18. Past, Present and Future

The weekend rolled around in no time. Unlike Tee’s obvious disinterest in the romantic holiday, Rose was very excited about St. Valentine’s. Not only was it her first time spending the holiday with a guy, it was also her first real date with George.

They’d agreed to not really plan out their day beforehand. Since Hogsmeade was likely to be busy that weekend, they knew there was a high chance of the crowds ruining their plans. So they’d headed into Hogsmeade with open minds. It was nice. Rose had always preferred to just go with the flow.

They’d been blessed with quite a good day for it too. The snow had now completely disappeared. Instead, it was dry and also surprisingly warm for February.

“So is there anything you _want_ to do whilst we’re here?” Rose asked, looking up at George. He seemed perfectly at ease, whereas she was actually a little nervous. She knew it was silly though – it was only George. It was just the situation that felt like it was putting pressure on her.

George noticed it too, but he just laughed at her. “You don’t have to sound so formal about it.”

Rose smiled. “Sorry. It’s just all a little new to me, this dating malarkey. I’ve never been on one before.”

“That’s okay; neither have I,” George reassured her.

“Really?” Rose wasn’t really sure why she was surprised – she just expected everyone else to have had more dating experience than her. Plus the twins were well-known at school and quite popular.

“Really,” George laughed again, throwing an arm across her shoulders. “So congratulations. You’re the first one to take me away from Fred.”

Rose laughed as well, winding her arm round George’s waist and tucking her hand into the pocket of her robes. She always had cold hands, but it was a good excuse to steal other people’s body heat. “In that case, I’m honoured. And _not_ speaking formally, where _would_ you like to go?”

“I’m thinking somewhere less busy?” George suggested with a cheeky smile.

Rose laughed again and elbowed him in the side. “Just what are you suggesting?” She may have won over the milder of the two twins, but George certainly had his own mischievous streak to be reckoned with.

“It was only an idea,” said George innocently, his brown eyes twinkling.

“I’m sure it was,” smiled Rose.

XXX

True to her word, Tee spent most of the Valentine’s Day morning in bed. She’d never really been one for lie-ins, but her four-poster bed at Hogwarts was definitely much comfier than the small bed she had at home.

What was she going to do for the rest of the day? She’d always made a point to spend Valentine’s Day with her girlfriends. It was weird knowing that Rose was off on a date. Rose had always been known as a bit of a serial man-hater, so the idea that she now had a boyfriend was still a little bizarre.

Whilst Tee was staring up at the ceiling and thinking to herself, something suddenly hit the side of her face, almost taking her eye out. She started and abruptly sat up. What the hell...

It was a paper aeroplane. It made a rather ungainly loop-the-loop before nose-diving at her face again. This time, Tee was ready and grabbed it before it could do any damage – whether it was eye-gouging or paper cuts. She unfolded it curiously to find a short note scrawled inside it.

‘ _Get up, you lazy git._ ’

Tee couldn’t help smiling. She should have known. Well, tough. Right now she felt too comfy to go anywhere. At least until she was hungry anyway. She groped for the wand on her bedside table and pointed it at the half-crumpled aeroplane that was now performing uncoordinated somersaults.

“Incendio!”

The paper aeroplane went up in a small burst of flames that then disintegrated before they even hit the carpet. Tee lay back down and pulled the covers up snugly around her. Yep, she definitely wasn’t getting up anytime soon. Fred was just going to have to entertain himself.

Not long afterwards, she was woken up again by somebody poking her repeatedly in the head. “Oww. Okay, okay, I’m awake!” she complained, opening her eyes and looking round to see who was so eager for her to wake up. “ _Fred_! What the hell are you doing up here?” She scrambled up into a sitting position.

“I had to get you up somehow,” said Fred, looking pleased with himself. “Didn’t you get my note?”

“I burnt it, you cheeky sod,” Tee retorted, self-consciously pulling the covers up around her. There was a reason that boys weren’t allowed in the girl’s dormitories after all. “How did you even get up here? You couldn’t get up the stairs the last time you tried.”

“I found a workaround,” Fred beamed, grabbing something from the foot of the bed and holding it up. It was his broomstick. “They’ve never built a room that Fred Weasley couldn’t find a way into.”

“Good for you,” said Tee dryly, rolling her eyes. “So am I not allowed to sleep now? You’re going to harass me whilst I’m in bed too?”

“You and I both know that you would never normally be sleeping in this late,” Fred pointed out, grinning. “So you’re gonna get up and we’re gonna go and make you get over this silly thing you have against Valentine’s Day.”

“I’m not going anywhere!” protested Tee, though her heart did a funny little flip. Was he trying to suggest going on a date or something? “I don’t celebrate it, remember?”

“I know you don’t. But this isn’t a date or a celebration or anything,” Fred reassured. “Just because you’re not celebrating it doesn’t mean you have to be a hermit instead. If this had been any other day and Rose and George had gone off on their own, we still would have found our own thing to do, right?”

“Right,” said Tee slowly, reluctant to admit that he was right.

“So stop letting Valentine’s Day get the better of you,” said Fred cheerfully, winking at her. “And get your broomstick. You’ll need it.”

Tee sighed. He was totally right. “Fine, you’ve convinced me. But you’ve gotta get out first so I can get dressed.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind staying,” Fred grinned.

“ _Out_!” Tee repeated with more emphasis.

Fred laughed. He tucked his broomstick under his arm and retreated back towards the stairs. “Just one more thing...”

“What?”

“You have _hilarious_ bed hair.”

“If you don’t get out now, I’m going to start throwing things,” Tee threatened.

Fred just laughed again. “I’ll meet you downstairs then.” He stepped down onto the first stair and waited. The staircase transformed into a slide moments later and his feet slid out from underneath him.

Tee could hear him whooping as he disappeared out of sight. She shook her head. He was certifiably insane... Which was probably why she liked him so much.

She then shook her head again, though this time, it was aimed at herself. She needed to stop thinking things like that if she wanted their friendship to keep working. She couldn’t keep expecting or wanting more than that, she told herself firmly.

Though her self-motivation wasn’t quite enough to fix her insecurities as well and she ended up taking a long time getting ready. By the time she’d grabbed her broomstick and made her way downstairs, Fred was lounging in one of the armchairs and pretending to snore. The common room was now empty besides him.

Tee swatted him on the head with her broom. “Come on then, quit messing about.”

“Messing about? I feel like I’ve aged a hundred years just waiting for you,” Fred joked. “I’m too old to go anywhere now.”

Tee hit him again with her broom, though harder this time. “Very funny. So do you have some amazing plan for what we’re going to do?”

“What do you think?” said Fred, holding up his own broomstick. “We’re going flying.”

Tee raised her eyebrows. “Where to?”

“Anywhere. Just around the school and the grounds. Me and George used to do it all the time,” said Fred with a shrug. “We haven’t done it this year though – we might find something interesting.”

Tee couldn’t deny that that actually sounded quite fun. “Okay then, let’s go!” she said more brightly.

XXX

After poking their heads round the door of Madam Puddifoot’s and reconsidering upon seeing how busy it was, wading through the crowd of people in Honeydukes just to buy two bags of chocolate cauldrons, walking into The Three Broomsticks and then straight back out after it was obvious that they wouldn’t be able to get a table, Rose couldn’t help but concede that George’s idea of going somewhere quieter wasn’t such a bad idea.

For lack of a better place, they ended up at the Shrieking Shack. As always, the abandoned inn was boarded up and inaccessible. George removed his cloak and laid it out on the grass so they ended up having their own mini picnic, eating their way through the bag of chocolate cauldrons and idly watching the Shrieking Shack in the hopes of seeing something interesting.

The whole time they were sat there, they didn’t see anything unusual. But the chocolates were good and the conversation steered away from the supposedly haunted building, away even from Hogwarts and delved more into their home life.

“So what was it like being homeschooled?” George asked with a mouthful of chocolate. “Do you prefer being in a proper school?”

“Well, it was certainly a lot quieter,” replied Rose, who was leaning back comfortably against George’s side. “But nowhere near as interesting. There’s obviously a lot more rules here, but the practical work is just so much more fun.”

“I definitely couldn’t hack homeschooling,” George decided. He couldn’t see it being anything other than boring. Certainly for troublemakers like himself anyway.

Rose giggled. She definitely couldn’t imagine Fred and George being homeschooled. She’d feel sorry for the teacher. “It had its ups and downs,” she admitted. “But either way, I definitely prefer it here. And I wouldn’t have met you otherwise!”

George smiled. “And that would definitely be a problem.”

“Half the school year’s already gone,” Rose remarked, her mind wandering. “We’ve only got a few months before we’re going to be breaking up for summer.”

“Mmm,” George agreed. “You’re not going all drippy over how quickly the time’s passing, are you?”

“Of course not,” Rose laughed, poking his arm. “I’m just pointing out that obviously we won’t be staying here over the summer holidays. And then you’re supposed to say ‘that’s okay, Rose, we can still see each other loads over the summer’.”

George laughed. “Is that what you’re worried about? That we won’t see each other much over summer?”

“Well, you’re always welcome to come and stay at my house,” Rose suggested, which was clearly what she’d wanted to say all along. “If you think you can hack being part of a farm with the amount of animals that we have.”

“Rose, we’ve seen each other every day since September. I’m certainly not going to go for a whole summer without seeing you,” George pointed out with a smile. “I think I can hack anything for that.”

Rose smiled back. “Really?” She didn’t know why she’d been so worried about asking. She’d just known that she hadn’t wanted to spend their entire summer apart.

“Of course!” said George, shifting so that he could put his arm around her. “And you can come stay with us too, for as long as you want. Tee can come as well. Fred will need someone to play with.”

Rose laughed. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled about that.”

“Only a few months till summer...” George repeated, shaking his head. “You realise that your ‘a few’ is technically about four months, right? You really plan ahead.”

“Funnily enough, I’m actually terrible at planning ahead,” Rose giggled. “I can come up with the ideas okay – I’m just terrible at the organising part.”

“Well, we can always worry about the organising part when it comes to it,” George reassured, pulling her closer to him. “At least you actually have plans and ideas for the future. That’s nice.”

“Lots and lots of them,” Rose agreed, snuggling against him.

George laid his cheek against the top of her head. “What do you reckon you’ll do when we’ve finished at Hogwarts?”

“I’m not really sure,” Rose confessed. “Job wise anyway. I don’t know what I’d even be able to do in the future, not yet... I know we’re going to be moving to the Isle of Wight though as soon as my hospital appointments have spread out more. It’s what we’ve always wanted to do.”

“The Isle of Wight?” George repeated, surprised. “Isn’t that, like... overseas?”

Rose laughed. “You make it sound like some foreign country.” She paused. “Well, I guess it is a little like one... They don’t even have a Starbucks over there.”

“Moving to a different country and all you care about is Starbucks?” asked George, amused. He’d never heard of Starbucks before this year, but he’d gathered enough from the many times that Rose and Tee had mentioned it to understand that it was some kind of coffee place.

“Hey, my hot chocolate is important,” Rose insisted.

“I’m sure it is,” laughed George.

XXX

After an hour of zipping about the grounds on their broomsticks, Tee had completely forgotten about the national holiday that she so hated. She’d been much more interested in racing round the turrets of the castle as fast as she could.

“Come on, give me a break!” Fred complained when he finally managed to catch her. His poor old Cleansweep couldn’t keep up.

“Hey, it’s not my fault if you’re too slow,” Tee teased, hovering in mid-air.

“We’re supposed to be exploring; not racing,” Fred reminded her.

“But racing is so much more _fun_. Come on, try and beat me to the North Tower!”

Tee zoomed off again before Fred even had the chance to say anything. When he got to North Tower, he found that Tee had dismounted her broom and was sitting on the rooftop, making out like she’d been there for a long time.

“Yeah, yeah, you beat me again,” he grumbled, touching down on the roof. He climbed off his broom and set it to one side, sitting down beside Tee. “What’s up with the rest stop?”

“Oh. come on, you’ve gotta admit it’s pretty amazing up here,” said Tee, pointing down towards the grounds that now seemed miniscule from where they were sat.

Fred smiled. “Yeah, okay, you’re right on that one.”

Tee suddenly felt a little awkward. She wasn’t really going about this friendship thing the right way by bringing Fred up here. Alone, secluded... Most people would probably consider this quite a romantic setting. And on Valentine’s Day, of all days. Tee sighed and reached for her broomstick, starting to get back to her feet. Time to take flight again.

Unfortunately for her, Fred wasn’t having any of that. “What are you doing? You were the one who just said how amazing it was up here,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “So sit your butt back down.”

“Alright, bossy,” Tee grumbled, doing as he said. She clearly hadn’t been quick enough.

“You haven’t developed a sudden fear of heights, have you?” Fred teased. “I know it might be scary up here for someone who’s used to not having any height herself.”

Tee cuffed him round the head. “Shut up or I’ll push you off the edge.”

“Charming.” Fred leant back casually against the roof. “You know, being alone with me up here really doesn’t mean anything, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Tee did _not_ like how close he was getting to her own trail of thought. Especially with how casual he sounded about it. “Are you kidding? I’m just worried you’ll bore me to tears up here.”

“Get real. I’m a riot,” declared Fred, grinning.

“If you say so,” said Tee, rolling her eyes. She quickly racked her brain for a new topic. “I wonder how Rose and George are getting on.”

“Yeah, I get the feeling Rose doesn’t go on many dates from how nervous she seemed,” Fred remarked. He didn’t comment on the abrupt subject change.

Tee nodded. “This is her first one. I know she always feels weird about being inexperienced with this kind of thing.”

“She’ll be fine,” Fred reassured her. “It’s George’s first date too anyway, so they’re both in the same boat.”

“Really?” said Tee, as surprised as Rose had been. There was no denying the twins’ popularity at school.

“Yup. Neither of us really bothered with that route before,” said Fred with a shrug.

“Hang on, are you telling me that _you’ve_ never had a girlfriend either?” Tee asked in disbelief. How could he have never turned all that cheeky charm and flirtation on anyone else before?

Fred grinned. “I feel I should be flattered by how surprised you are.” He neatly moved his leg out of the way as Tee attempted to kick him. “But no, I haven’t. As opposed to you, who’s had... how many boyfriends was it?”

“You make it sound like I’ve been with hundreds of guys!” Tee objected. “And for your information, it was only three. Well... Two and a bit, I guess. The one didn’t really count.”

“Why not?” asked Fred, seemingly amused.

“Because it was literally for about a week and we never really had an ‘official’ break-up,” explained Tee, gesturing air quotes with her fingers.

“What; so you’re still together?” Fred raised his eyebrows. “Because I hate to break it to you, Kittykat, but that sounds like a relationship to me.”

“No, you idiot,” said Tee, trying to kick him again. “I mean more that he never said anything to me about it; he just went round telling everyone he was single again and looking.”

“Ouch.”

“Eh, I wasn’t really that fussed.” Tee shrugged. “It was only a week – I hadn’t had the chance to get to really like him or anything. And he turned out to be a bit weird after that anyway, so I guess I escaped that bear trap pretty easily.”

Fred still looked a little sceptical. “So what about the other two?”

“Well, you obviously know the infamous Lewis story,” said Tee dramatically, rolling her eyes. “And my first boyfriend I’m still actually friends with. I don’t think we would have ever worked out as a couple though. We were friends for a long time before we actually hooked up. I thought it was what I’d wanted, but it turned out it wasn’t.”

“You don’t think friends can date?”

“It’s not that... I think if your friendship can withstand it – even if it doesn’t work out – then it’s always worth trying just to see if there’s actually something there.” Tee couldn’t believe she was even saying this to him. She felt almost like she was daring him to do something about it. She mentally shook herself and got back to the point. “It was more that I was just too young back then. I didn’t really know _what_ I wanted.”

Fred sat back up. “So what about now? Do you still not know what you want?”

Tee didn’t know what to say. So far, she’d pretty much gone through life not knowing what she wanted out of anything. And she’d been happy with that. When you were then blessed with something good that you hadn’t expected or actively anticipated, then it was always a nice surprise.

Only now, she had a feeling that she _did_ know what she wanted. And he was sitting right in front of her. She’d told herself that it wasn’t worth risking their friendship, yet what she’d just told him was completely the opposite.

But the only problem was that she was positive that these feelings were only one-sided. Fred had already made it clear several times today that this wasn’t a date and that the two of them being alone together didn’t mean anything. So what was the point of risking everything when he apparently thought there was nothing there anyway?

“I guess I don’t,” Tee lied.

The conversation died a little after that and it ironically started to rain. Tee grumbled and attempted to cover her head with her arms, complaining about her hair getting wet and going curly.

“Time to get moving then,” said Fred, getting up and grabbing his broomstick. He then pointed towards one of the other towers – the one closest to them. “Hey, look, maybe we can get in through there.”

“Why don’t we just go back inside through the front doors?” Tee suggested, retrieving her own broom from behind her.

“Because this’ll be more fun,” said Fred simply, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet.

XXX

The rain caught Rose and George as well, just as they’d slowly started to amble back towards the castle. It seemed to come out of nowhere and it grew heavy quite fast. George directed a complaining Rose hurriedly over to one of the trees so that they could shelter underneath it.

“It couldn’t have waited until we got back,” Rose grumbled, huddling closer to George.

“I’m guessing it’s only a shower,” said George. “Seeing as it was supposed to be dry today. If we stay here for a bit, then hopefully we’ll avoid the worst of it.”

“Well, we can’t say it hasn’t been an eventful day,” joked Rose. “Battling crowds, staging a rather lazy ghost hunt, taking shelter from the rain...”

“Don’t forget the chocolate picnic and the deep and meaningful conversations,” George grinned. 

“How is talking about life after school deep and meaningful?” Rose teased.

“Hey, I’ve been stuck with Fred for too long,” George pointed out. “You can’t talk about anything even remotely serious with him. Talking about future plans is pretty meaningful compared to what I’ve always had to put up with!”

“Point taken,” Rose laughed. “And speaking of, you never said what you wanna do after Hogwarts.”

“Well, we always said we wanted to open our own joke shop...” started George.

“That sounds like a future Fred plan to me,” Rose interrupted, grinning.

“You heard me say joke shop, right?” George reminded her. “That’s not exactly what you’d call serious.”

“Yeah, okay,” Rose conceded, laughing again.

“We do actually _want_ to do it, so we’re serious about it in that way,” George added. “We’ve already been inventing our own trick sweets and charms and other things that we could sell.”

“That’s cool,” said Rose, impressed. She knew that the twins were smarter than they let people think – they just didn’t really seem to put their skills to good use very often. “And it’s good that you actually know what you want to do. Most people wouldn’t have a clue at this stage.”

“Yeah, I guess,” agreed George. “It’s just that in the long run, I know I’d want to move on and do something... more. Like it’d be great if we could invent stuff that Aurors could use in their line of work... Or something like that.”

Rose smiled, proud and even more impressed that he wanted to do something for others too. “That’s even better! But you don’t have to worry about that _just_ yet. If you want to run a joke shop, then run a joke shop. Make sure you have your fun first.”

“Oh, you don’t need to tell me twice to do that,” George grinned.

Rose went to say something else, but water suddenly dripped on her head through the branches and she squealed instead. “I’m still getting dripped on!” she wailed.

George burst out laughing. “It’s only a bit of water – it’s not the end of the world!”

“But I’m meeelting!” Rose managed to say between giggles, which just made George laugh even more.

“You’re such a little weirdo,” he chuckled, pulling her closer to him.

“Little?” Rose repeated indignantly. She knew that for a girl she was actually quite tall.

“Only compared to me,” grinned George. He dragged up one side of his cloak and pulled it over her head. “There. You can hide in here if you’re so worried about getting dripped on.”

“Why thank you, sir,” teased Rose. Though she did take his offer and snuggled up against him underneath his cloak. Now this was much warmer and _definitely_ much nicer.

“My pleasure, Madame.”

“Does this mean we’re gonna have to walk like this if it doesn’t stop raining?” asked Rose, peeking out through a gap between the cloak’s fastenings.

She felt George’s laugh rumble through his chest. “Let’s hope not,” he said. “Somehow I don’t think this’ll work very well when it comes to manoeuvrability.”

XXX

“It’s very noisy in here,” Tee remarked.

The tower they’d taken refuge in was actually the Clock Tower. The cogs and gears of the clock’s mechanism ground endlessly against each other and the constant ticking was loud when inside the tower itself. Well... At least it killed the possibility of there being any romantic atmosphere.

“Well, I spend a lot of time around you so I’m used to noise,” Fred teased, dodging the kick that Tee aimed at him. He peered outside through the clock face. “It’s really coming down out there now.”

“Time to find a different way back into the castle then,” decided Tee, starting to make her way down the tiny wooden staircase onto the lower level.

“Hey, isn’t that your owl trying to get in?”

“Huh?” Tee quickly skipped back up the stairs. Sure enough, her poor sodden little barn owl was flapping frantically and attempting to get around the clock’s hands. “The crazy thing... What’s he doing up here!”

“I’ve got him,” said Fred, rescuing the very wet owl out of the air. “He’s got a letter. He must have seen you and followed us up here.”

“Aww, bless him!” Tee crooned, taking the soggy ball of feathers from Fred’s hands. “What a little weirdo. You could have waited till breakfast tomorrow morning, ya know.”

She relieved Oli of the letter he’d been carrying, which was thankfully in quite a thick envelope. Hopefully, whatever was inside wouldn’t have been ruined by the rain. The owl ruffled his feathers as soon as she’d taken the letter from him and happily took flight back out into the rain.

“Definitely crazy,” Tee muttered, turning the letter over. She recognised Ariadne’s handwriting immediately. Crap... This was the reply to all of the ‘boy troubles’ that she’d been moaning about. No way could she read this now.

“Aren’t you going to read it?” asked Fred, watching her stare at the envelope.

Tee shook her head quickly. “No, I’ll read it later.”

“Oh, come on, is it just because I’m here? I won’t look,” promised Fred. “Go ahead and read it if you want.” He pointedly turned his back on her and watched the mechanisms of the clock turning instead.

Tee had to admit that she was intrigued to see what solution Ariadne might have offered her. “Yeah, yeah, alright then.”

She quickly tore the envelope open and pulled the letter out, skim reading through it as fast as she could. It was quite lengthy and she was pretty sure that Fred wasn’t going to wait very long before he got nosy about what was in it.

Tee couldn’t remember much of what she’d actually wrote to Ariadne in the first place, but she clearly hadn’t mentioned Fred by name, since Ariadne just referred to him in her reply as ‘your friend’. Tee remembered then that Fred had very nearly gotten hold of the first draft she’d written, so she’d been more careful about what she’d put the second time round.

She then re-read a few parts of the letter more thoroughly, feeling dismayed. Ariadne had advised her not to do anything if she thought there was any chance that ‘her friend’ might not be interested. It was better to not risk their friendship if she wanted him in her life at all. 

Tee sighed to herself. She had to agree. But then what had she expected? For Ariadne to say something that would magically make things work out? No pun intended.

She had offered another useful piece of advice though. Tee had briefly mentioned Sam in her last letter when she’d told Ariadne about her birthday party in the common room and her friend had apparently seen that as an opportunity. Her reply encouraged Tee to try flirting with him more to try and distract herself from her ‘other friend’.

It wasn’t bad advice. It had been quite clear from the start that neither Tee nor Sam had wanted anything serious from each other – it had always just been a bit of fun – so she knew that she wouldn’t have to worry about it escalating any further if she did start flirting with him again...

But Tee still wasn’t sure. It was far from what she wanted. She knew that she’d rather not bother at all than having to settle for just a bit of fun. She decided she would still take it into account though. Who knew? There was always the possibility that she could change her mind about it.

“Wait, is that the Sam from seventh year?”

Tee jumped and span around. Fred had been peeking over her shoulder. “You said you wouldn’t look! You nosy git!” she accused, her heart rate increasing. How much had he seen? Hopefully not enough to decipher who her ‘other friend’ was!

“But you were taking forever! I figured it had to be one juicy letter,” said Fred, not at all fazed at being caught out. On the contrary, he seemed more surprised about what he’d just read. “So... you were writing to your friend about that Sam guy?”

Clearly he hadn’t seen enough if he thought that Sam was the main focus of the letter. Tee felt a little relieved, but she was suddenly eager to get back to her dorm. She wouldn’t put it past Fred to try and sneak another peek. No way could she risk him reading anymore than he already had.

“I only mentioned him in passing,” she said, trying to sound casual. “I’d just been talking about my birthday. It wasn’t important or anything.”

“Oh... Okay.” Fred’s expression was unreadable. It was very out of character for him.

Tee frowned. “What’s up?”

“Well... It’s just that I...”

A ridiculously loud noise suddenly rang through the tower as the clock’s bell clanged, signalling the hourly mark. Tee and Fred both yelped and quickly covered their ears with their hands. It chimed three more times before stopping.

“Wow, that _is_ loud,” Fred commented casually once the chiming had stopped.

“Tell me about it,” agreed Tee. Her ears were still ringing, even if the clock itself wasn’t. “What were you going to say?”

“Oh. It doesn’t matter,” said Fred briskly. “Come on, let’s get out of here before it does that again.”

Tee frowned again. It was obviously going to be another hour before the clock chimed again and Fred clearly knew that too. What was up with him all of a sudden? But either way, she didn’t argue. Personally, she couldn’t wait to get back to her dorm and for the day to be over. Despite Fred’s best efforts, she still hated Valentine’s Day.


	19. Intervention

Tee decided not to follow Ariadne’s advice. She really had given it the consideration that she’d sworn to herself she would, but regardless, the answer had still been pretty obvious from the start. She just wasn’t interested in Sam like that. That brief moment had passed long ago.

If she started things up with him again, then it would just confuse everybody around them. It wouldn’t be fair to Sam and it wouldn’t be what she wanted. Tee was grateful for Ariadne’s attempts to help, but she knew that she was just going to have to rely on schoolwork as an appropriate distraction from her otherwise muddled thoughts.

For the most part, she was just going to carry on as normal, like she'd already been trying to do. And hope that her head would sort itself out if she busied herself enough. She was lucky, because preparation for OWLs was now in full force in all of their classes. Not to mention their upcoming match against Hufflepuff was also closing in.

Tee had so many other things to think about that she really didn’t have the chance to worry about the issues regarding her love life. And with the first opportunity she had for some free time in a while, she was much more interested in just kicking back and relaxing with her friends.

The four of them had sat down by the lake again that afternoon, sheltered by the large willow tree that they’d sat underneath before. The air was quite fresh, but the ground was dry and it was certainly starting to look towards a warmer spring.

"Exams haven’t even started yet and I already can’t wait for them to be over," Tee commented, leaning back on her elbows and absent-mindedly scanning their surroundings.

"Forget exams. I’m more interested in our final Quidditch match," Fred added, who was reclining against the tree’s trunk.

"Not interested in schoolwork. There’s a surprise," Rose teased.

"Well, at least I’m consistent with it."

Tee was barely even listening to what they were saying. If she had been, then she most likely would have beaten Rose to making that particular jibe. As it was, she’d noticed Sam and Jensen chilling with a couple of their friends further up the bank. Seeing Sam just brought her crashing back to reality, reminding her of Ariadne’s letter and the decisions that she’d made over Valentine’s Day.

She was only vaguely aware of Rose saying something to George when her friend suddenly exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing?" Tee glanced back round, but Rose wasn’t looking at her.

"What are you on about?" asked Fred innocently.

"Why did you just mess your hair up like that? It looks ridiculous."

"What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything," Fred replied.

"You did! I just watched you do it," Rose insisted.

Wondering what the hell her friend was talking about, Tee turned towards her other side. Fred had swept his hair back into one ungainly wave, giving him quite an extreme windswept look. He seemed to be purposely not looking at any of them. Tee bit back a laugh as she sat up.

"Rose is right. You look like an idiot," she giggled, leaning over and playfully swatting his hair back into place. "Probably better if you don’t go with that look long-term."

"If it pleases you, then I won’t," said Fred teasingly, giving her quite a winning smile in return.

Tee felt her heart perform that oh so familiar flip, but she just rolled her eyes theatrically at him. She'd gotten pretty good at hiding what she was really thinking lately. She casually turned her head away and saw Rose giving her a rather odd look. "What?" she asked, quite startled.

"Oh... It’s nothing," said Rose, glancing at Fred. There was still a slight confused frown creasing her forehead.

Tee chose to listen to her friend’s words rather than her expression and thought nothing more of it. She didn’t need anything else to worry about right now. She leant back onto her elbows again. "So exactly how important _are_ our OWLs?"

Fred snorted. "Depends on what you wanna do."

"We get to drop subjects next year, right?" asked Tee.

"Right. If there’s any particular ones you wanna keep on next year, then you’re kinda gonna need good OWL grades in them," George explained. "Most of the teachers won’t keep you in their class unless you get at least acceptable grades."

"So does that mean I can basically flunk my Potions exam?" Tee suggested.

"As long as you’re sure you won’t want Potions later on," replied George, sounding amused. He looked over at Rose, expecting her to advise her friend to think about her decision a little more first, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation at all. She was staring off out towards the lake. "Hey, earth to Rose..."

Rose snapped back to attention upon hearing her name. "Oh, sorry, what was that?"

"You alright? You looked a little preoccupied there," said George.

"I’m fine," said Rose. She quickly glanced at Tee and then back again before adding, "I think I’m gonna go back to the common room for a bit though." She gave George a very pointed look.

"Err, do you want me to go with you?" asked George, hoping he’d interpreted the look she was giving him correctly.

Rose smiled at him. He’d clearly gotten it right. "Yeah, okay."

"Come on then," said George, getting to his feet and then offering Rose a hand up. He was still a bit bewildered. "We’ll catch you guys later."

"Err, alright. See ya," said Fred, mildly bemused.

Tee sat up again once they’d left. "That was weird. What was all that about?"

"Not a clue," Fred shrugged. "They got like that before, remember? Wonder what they’re hiding this time."

"Well, George actually looked like he was as clueless as us," Tee pointed out. "And it’s not like Rose to hide things."

"I dunno what to tell you then," said Fred, making himself more comfy against the tree. "I’m sure we’ll find out eventually."

He didn’t seem particularly worried and Tee wished that she could say the same, but in truth, she felt quite uneasy. Rose seemed to have been giving her odd looks quite a bit over the last week. Tee was worried that the wheels to the dynamic of their friendship group were starting to turn. She didn’t want anything to change. She was happy with the way things were.

Well... Happy enough. But she really doubted that her friend would be able to magically fix the current troubles with her love life.

After a while, Fred sat up. "I’m getting kinda hungry. Think I might go up to the kitchens and see if the house elves can spot me some food. Wanna come?"

Tee shook her head and slowly got to her feet. "I think I’m gonna go back to the common room too."

"I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say no to food," Fred joked as he followed suit. "But that’s cool. I’ll go get food and you can check on Rose."

Tee was surprised. "How did you know that’s what I was thinking about?"

"Because I know you, Kittykat," said Fred, annoyingly ruffling her hair. "And because I’m amazing, of course."

Tee rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t resist smiling. "If you say so."

"I know so," Fred grinned. "Now agree that I’m amazing and I _may_ bring you some cake back."

Tee laughed. She could hardly resist cake. "Okay, you’re _very_ amazing. Does the ‘very’ part get me two cakes?"

"No way, that wasn’t the deal..."

After bantering back and forth for a little while longer, Tee eventually escaped back up to the common room with the promised reward of at least one cauldron cake. She spotted Rose and George sitting by the fire once she got inside, but they hastily stopped talking as soon as they saw her. Oh, great... _Now_ what?

Feeling uncomfortable, Tee suddenly regretted not having gone to the kitchens with Fred. She’d _known_ something was up. She just hadn’t known that the problem had been with _her_. But what could she possibly have done? It was obvious that Rose and George had been talking about her – why else would they have shut up as soon as she’d walked in?

Annoyed and more than a little confused, Tee just nodded at Rose and George and went to stand with Kayley and her friends on the other side of the room. It wasn’t the first time she’d chosen to give Rose and George their own privacy, so at least it wouldn’t look conspicuous to any of the others. She was still bewildered as to what she could have done.

"What happened to _your_ twin?" asked Sumayyah.

"Huh?"

"Well, Rose has got hers," Sumayyah explained, nodding in Rose’s direction. "So where’s yours?"

"He’s not _mine_ ," said Tee, trying to sound indignant. It must have worked because the other girls all laughed. "And he went to go scav some food."

"I hope he brings enough to share," Marie joked.

"Yeah, somehow I highly doubt that," Tee laughed.

After chatting to the girls for a few more minutes, Rose and George came to join them anyway. They now seemed completely back to normal, which confused Tee even further. Had she just imagined it or was this actually the start of something much bigger? Well, as long as her best friend didn’t seem to have any issues with her, then for now, she didn’t care.

Fred returned not long after that, carrying just the one extra cake. Tee waved him over when she saw him. "It’s about time. Now gimme!"

Fred hid the cake behind his back. "First, you have to say ‘Fred Weasley, you are the smartest, funniest, sexiest creature to ever walk this earth'."

"No way; I already had to call you amazing for it," Tee protested. "And you _said_ you’d get one for me!"

"I said I’d get one; I never said I’d actually give it to you," Fred grinned.

"Now that’s just playing dirty," Tee accused, attempting to grab the cake from behind his back.

"I take that as a compliment," said Fred, holding the cake up out of her reach.

"You’re such a bully!" Tee pouted.

"Right!" said Rose suddenly. "Time to intervene." She pushed her way in between them and grabbed them both by their ears, dragging them away. "Come on, you two..."

"Wait! Rose, what are you doing?" Tee spluttered.

"Ow... Hey, I was only playing her up!" Fred protested. "There’s no need to go all teacher on us."

Rose ignored them both and directed them through the portrait hole and out onto the corridor. George followed them through and shut the portrait after them, looking somewhat amused. Only then did Rose let go of their ears.

"Seriously, what’s all this about?" asked Fred, rubbing his ear.

For once, Tee was on his side. "Yeah, Rose, what’s going on?"

"We’ve had an idea," Rose announced.

"Why do I get the feeling that I’m not gonna wanna be a part of it?" said Fred warily.

"It’s not just you," Rose pointed out. "This is about both of you."

"Both of us?" Tee repeated slowly with a strange sense of foreboding. Uh oh... Something was telling her that she wasn’t going to like where this was going.

"To put it shortly," said Rose. "We think you two should... try dating."

Tee felt like her heart had stopped. "Wait, _what_?"

"Are you serious? Where did this come from?"

"Come on; it’s not that crazy of an idea," Rose insisted. "And we’re not saying you have to do it or anything. We just... you know, thought we’d give you a nudge in that direction."

Tee was just about ready to die on the spot. She didn’t think she’d ever blushed so much in her life. When had her friend figured everything out? And _why_ hadn’t she spoken to her about it first? At least that way, Tee could have told her that this was the very kind of talk that she’d been hoping to avoid.

She chanced a nervous look at Fred. Thankfully, he was looking at George, though he looked just as stunned as she felt. "Was this just Rose’s idea?" he asked his twin.

George shook his head. "No, I’m with her on this. It can’t exactly hurt you to give it a try."

_Yes it can_ , thought Tee adamantly. It could destroy their whole friendship! She should have known that something like this was bound to happen sooner or later...

"We just thought that you guys have always seemed to get on so well," explained Rose. "And god knows, you certainly flirt with each other enough! Wouldn’t you wanna see if there’s actually something there? Have neither of you really never thought about it before?"

Tee wished that a black hole would appear in the floor and swallow her up. Oh, she’d definitely thought about it before. She’d just never intended to actually act on it. Rose had no idea what she was getting her into.

"Are you kidding? Look at Tee’s face – she’s traumatised by the very thought," Fred joked, swatting her lightly over the head.

At least he wasn’t taking it seriously, Tee thought to herself ruefully. She wished she could say the same about herself.

Rose, however, ignored his comment. "Just think about it. At least."

"Yeah, everyone already thinks you’re going out anyway," George added.

That reminded Tee of Sumayyah asking about ‘her twin’. Was that really what everyone thought? Was Fred the only person who hadn’t considered the possibility of them as a couple? She’d certainly done enough of that herself, whether she’d been prepared to act on it or not.

"Come on, George. Let’s go back inside and leave them to it," Rose decided.

George winked at them before following Rose back through the portrait entrance. "Yeah, have fun with that."

And with that, Tee and Fred were left in a very uncomfortable silence. Tee would have liked nothing more than to run through the portrait hole after them, but something was telling her that wasn't really an option. "Err, sooo..." she started slowly, trying to sound light-hearted.

"Let's go for a walk, Kittykat," Fred decided suddenly.

"Huh?" Tee felt a stab of anxiety. She wasn't sure if that sounded promising or ominous.

"Well, no matter what we say, we know that those two nosy buggers are gonna be right in there trying to listen in," Fred pointed out, jabbing a thumb towards the Fat Lady's portrait. "So let's sod off somewhere else."

"Um, okay," said Tee, still feeling nervous.

"Here." Fred finally handed her the cauldron cake that he'd still been carrying throughout the whole thing. "Now come on."

Tee obediently followed him down from the Gryffindor Tower. As they walked, she couldn't think of a single thing to say to break the silence. _Why_ had Rose and George had to do this? Didn't they realise how awkward they'd made things now? She'd been getting on so much better with Fred lately that they'd practically been back to normal. But now she felt like she was back to square one. Only this time, Fred was in on it too.

She'd been so absorbed in her muddle of thoughts that she hadn't been paying any attention to where they were going. She looked up in surprise when she realised where Fred had led her. "The clock tower?"

"Come on," Fred just repeated with a smile.

Tee followed him inside, feeling mystified. It didn't really seem like the best place to have a chat. Last time, they'd had to talk extra loud just to be able to hear each other over the sound of the clock's noisy mechanism. And it was just as loud as she remembered. In fact, it seemed even worse this time.

But apparently, that was the idea. "I remembered how loud it was before," said Fred, having to raise his voice a little. "So I thought this would be the perfect place. Nobody will be able to eavesdrop on us in here, unless they come and sit right next to us. In which case, I think we'd probably notice them."

He looked so pleased with himself that Tee couldn't help but laugh at him. "Alright, smarty-pants. Are you waiting for a pat on the back or something?"

"Actually, I was hoping for something a lot better than a pat on the back," Fred grinned roguishly.

Tee hit him in response. He'd clearly never change. "Well, a pat on the back's all you're gonna get!"

"Hey, don't be mean now, Kittykat. Such things aren't gonna be that out of the question if we're going to be _dating_ ," Fred teased.

Well, at least Tee knew where he stood on the whole thing. He obviously still regarded it as a big joke. But regardless of that, there was one thing she wanted to clear up first. This was clearly the perfect time to do it, so she wasn't going to chicken out this time.

She took a deep breath. "Look... I know this whole idea of theirs has just come up out of the blue, but I really don't want it to make things awkward between us or anything."

Fred just raised his eyebrows at her. "Come on, Tee, I think maybe we should sit down."

"Err... okay?"

They went and sat on the platform up by the clock's face, looking out onto the grounds. They were a little further away from the noisy cogs and gears, but they still had to sit extra close to be able to hear each other without having to raise their voices. Tee wasn't sure she was going to like where this was going.

"I _knew_ you were freaked out by this whole thing," said Fred, once they were sat down. "Are you really that horrified by the idea?"

That was _not_ what Tee had expected him to think. "What? No, that's not it at all!"

"Then why were you acting so squirrelly earlier?"

Tee flushed. Apparently most friends wouldn't have found something like this such a big deal. "Um, I don't know... I guess it just caught me off guard." That part was definitely true. She sure hadn't expected Rose and George to get involved. 

"So you saying you don't want things to be awkward between us wasn't you letting me down easy because you think I'm ugly?" Fred teased.

"Don't be ridiculous; you know I don't think that," Tee objected. "It's just that I know things like this can ruin friendships... And I don't want anything like that to happen."

"Don't worry. It won't," Fred reassured her, playfully tousling her hair.

Tee was so relieved to hear him say that. Maybe they could just blow this whole thing over after all. "Rose and George are clearly terrible friends if they didn't think of that part though," she joked.

Fred laughed. "I can just imagine them plotting together..." The laugh died on his lips and his expression turned thoughtful. "Hey... Do you think maybe we should try it though?"

Tee felt her heart do a funny flip. Was he really suggesting what she thought he was? "Err... you mean just to humour them?"

"No, Kittykat." Fred flicked her on the head, then grinned. "Well, maybe partly to humour them. But I guess that they could still have a point, so maybe we _should_ give it a shot... As long as the idea doesn't terrify you, of course."

Tee stared at him. The idea did terrify her. But not for the reason he was jesting about. Did he really not realise that he was actually offering her exactly what she'd wanted since New Year's Eve? Of course he didn't. He may have said that it was for real, but he still didn't sound completely serious about it.

But serious or not - seeing as it was Fred who was now suggesting the idea - was she really going to pass up the opportunity she'd been waiting two months for?

Tee tried her best not to sound like a nervous wreck. "Um, alright. If you want to, that is."

Fred didn't look like he'd expected that. "Err, really?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? Hey, you haven't just been messing with me this whole time, have you?" Tee accused.

Fred suddenly laughed. "No, I promise. I just didn't think you'd agree to it. I was expecting you to hit me."

Tee pouted. "You make me sound so violent."

"You are!"

"Only because you always pick on me!"

"But it's just so hard to resist," Fred grinned, attempting to mess her hair up.

"Well, try harder," Tee grumbled, slapping him away.

Fred chuckled. "I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." He caught hold of Tee's hand as she was still slapping at him and looked her in the eye. "So are we really doing this?"

Tee felt her heart perform another somersault. When he looked at her like that, she could almost believe he was serious. She had a feeling that this was only going to make things worse, but now that she'd had the idea dangled in front of her, she didn't want to back out. "Yeah... I said that already, didn't I?"

"Good. That's settled then."

Tee rolled her eyes. "What a romantic way to put it." She was glad that she at least still had her sarcasm. It was probably the only thing keeping her calm right now.

"Hey, from what I remember, _someone_ doesn't like romance," Fred pointed out teasingly. "So does that mean I can't get you flowers or anything?"

Tee made a face. "God, no, I don't like flowers."

"Why am I not surprised?" Fred chortled. "How about chocolates then?"

"Now you're speaking my language."

They sat there for a little while longer - Tee still feeling completely dazed by the whole thing - before Fred suggested, "So do you think we should go back and tell Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum the news?"

"I hope that makes Rose Dee and not Dum," said Tee indignantly, automatically sticking up for her friend.

Fred just laughed. "I thought that went without saying."

He helped pull Tee to her feet. He still hadn't let go of her hand the entire time. Tee had now gotten to the stage where she was sure that she must be dreaming. Surely it couldn't be this easy. All she'd actually asked for out of today was a cauldron cake.

They headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. Once they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, Fred turned to Tee with a grin. "Shall I carry you across the threshold?"

Tee just rolled her eyes at him again. "Let's not get carried away."

She was right - it _wasn't_ that easy. Fred clearly still thought this was just a big joke. Well, they _had_ agreed from the off that they'd humour Rose and George. So she couldn't say she hadn't known that part already. And seeing as she was technically getting what she wanted, then she couldn't really complain either.

It was clearly what Rose had wanted too, because her friend looked extremely pleased to see them climb into the common room, hand in hand. "So you're really gonna try it?" she asked excitedly, ushering them over.

Tee glanced round the room nervously, feeling uncomfortably on show all of a sudden. She half expected everyone to be staring at them. But no; Rose and George were the only ones. Nobody else was paying attention. Maybe they didn't notice anything different? _Everyone already thinks you’re going out anyway..._

"Well, I had to bribe Tee into it with cakes," Fred replied jokingly.

Tee responded with her usual method of hitting him. "Stop making me out to be a pig!"

"Are you trying to say you're not? Because you're not kidding anyone... ow!"

"Some things clearly never change," Rose giggled, as Tee hit him again.

The rest of the day passed more smoothly than it had started. After dinner, the four of them spent the remainder of the evening playing games of Exploding Snap in the common room. Tee hadn't had a huge part in playing the last time the twins had broke their pack out. She quickly learnt both that she was quite competitive and also not very good at it.

However, the game provided a good distraction from her still muddled thoughts and Tee was able to relax a bit more after a while, despite Fred's constant teasing that she was terrible at the game because she was 'too slow'. When she and Rose eventually retired to bed, she was a little worried that her friend would start questioning her the first chance she got. She wasn't wrong, but what Rose asked first wasn't quite what she'd anticipated.

"Did I upset you?"

"What?" Tee sat up in bed and stared at her, astonished. "Of course not! Why on earth would you have upset me?"

"I wasn't sure if maybe me and George were out of line earlier," explained Rose. "You've seemed a little weirded out since then."

Tee bit her lip. She didn't particularly want to get into it. She didn't really want anyone else to know that the whole thing meant a lot more to her than it did to Fred. "It's just... a little awkward, y'know? You suggested it out of the blue, so... I don't know. I guess it just surprised me."

"But you're still going to try it?" Rose persisted.

"I think so," said Tee, still a little uncertain on that herself. "I mean, we agreed to try it and see if you were right. But you know Fred. He doesn't seem to be taking it very seriously." Rose didn't ask if that last part bothered her, which Tee was grateful for. Though she was actually starting to feel that maybe her best friend already knew the answer to that anyway.

"Well, we all know that Fred doesn't really wear his heart on his sleeve," Rose pointed out. "But you'd be surprised - I think he takes things more seriously than he lets on."

"You do?" Tee was still unsure, but she was certainly interested to hear more of her friend's views on the matter.

"Let's just say it's not the first time he's passed something off as a joke to avoid admitting what he's really feeling."

"What do you mean?" Tee asked slowly. Rose was clearly trying to drop her a hint about something. She just didn't know what.

But Rose just smiled. "I'm sure you'll find out eventually."

And with that, she bid her friend goodnight. Tee reluctantly lay back down herself and crushed her stuffed dinosaur toy to her, her mind now racing even more than before. She'd thought that she'd gotten what she wanted, but now she didn't know what to think anymore.

Maybe tomorrow would make things clearer, she told herself optimistically. Still, the thoughts in her head continued to turn and it was a long time before she managed to fall asleep.


	20. Turning Point

From the start, Tee hadn't been very sure about the whole dating idea. And after the first few weeks, she knew she'd been right.

She'd hoped that she'd be able to work the situation to her advantage, but it just hadn't worked out that way at all. It hadn't made things better - if anything, it had just made them worse. Things between her and Fred felt more awkward and more embarrassing than ever. Everything felt like some kind of trial, though she wasn't sure what for. It just felt too forced. Tee had never wanted things to end up that way. Whenever she'd imagined an actual relationship with Fred, she'd expected it to be fun and spontaneous. But this just wasn't.

But then it wasn't a real relationship, was it? As far as she could see, Fred still wasn't treating the idea seriously. He just seemed to be following the conventions of a relationship like they were taking steps from a book. Like it was expected - not because he wanted to. It certainly wasn't the spontaneity that Tee had always secretly hoped for.

And now it seemed that nobody else was taking it seriously either. After the initial apology for the whole set-up, Rose hadn't tried to discuss it with her friend again - which Tee was thankful for - she'd simply left it to play out. Not to mention George suddenly seemed to think it was one big joke. Tee wasn't sure if he'd caught onto the initial idea of her and Fred simply humouring them, but he kept forcing them into embarrassing situations.

The day after they'd started 'dating' - Tee still imagined the word to have air quotes; it wasn't surprising when she seemed to be the only one who didn't want to regard it as a joke - George had started dropping in very obvious hints. He'd pointed out that he and Rose had had their first kiss the same day that he'd asked her out. He'd then reminded them of how much alone time they liked to have, like any couple would. Then there was the time he'd been sat with Rose on his lap and had suggested that it was never too soon for a couple to start being 'physically' close to one another. And the time he'd 'accidentally' bumped into Tee so that she'd literally fell into Fred's arms.

George clearly didn't believe that they were _really_ trying the dating idea. He seemed determined to catch them out. Fred responded to every attempt with his usual good humour and passed them off with laughs and typical, flirtatious jokes. Tee simply found them to be all the more embarrassing. 

Not to mention with the stress of the ever-looming exams _and_ their final Quidditch match closing in, she wasn't sure how much longer she could take it. Everything seemed so false that she couldn't see the idea lasting. But she was also terrified that they wouldn't be able to go back to their old, easy bantering friendship if it didn't.

Tee had now gotten to the stage where she'd started spending more time in her dorm again, just to get away from everything. She knew it was bad and she really didn't want to go back to where she'd first started, but more often than not, she needed the escape to try and clear her head. And at least now she had the excuse of wanting somewhere quiet to study. This time, nobody seemed any the wiser.

When she headed back down to the common room that evening, it was a lot quieter. Rose was lounging across an entire sofa by herself, watching the twins trying to build a house out of their pack of Exploding Snap cards. Needless to say, it wasn't going very well. The sleeves of George's robes were already scorched, clearly from previous attempts. They were also likely the reason that had drove the other Gryffindors out.

Tee crawled onto the sofa with Rose so that she was practically lying on top of her. "Cuddles please."

Rose laughed and hugged her friend. "Of course, my kitty! Did studying get the better of you?"

This time, Tee didn't have to lie, since she actually had been making the most of the quiet time to try and get some of her revision done. Though it turned out that the quietness of her environment wasn't the problem - it was just the studying itself. She groaned in response. "I'm gonna fail my History of Magic exam miserably."

"Well, we all knew that already," said Fred brightly. Tee threw a cushion at him in response. He ducked and it knocked the house of cards over. "Aww. That was the highest we'd got!"

"Then don't pick on me and I won't have to knock it down!"

"Now, now, children," Rose cautioned jokingly.

"Anyway, shouldn't you be doing all the snuggly business with your _boyfriend_?" George pointed out. Oh great, he was starting again.

Fred was quicker to respond than Tee. "She couldn't handle it. She wouldn't be able to cuddle up like that with me without wanting more... Hey!"

Tee had thrown another cushion at him. "Right, I'm out of cushions now, so behave!"

Fred grinned. "You know that's only incentive to make me pick on you more."

"Well, instead of that, why don't you just kiss and make up?" George hinted obviously. "Rose, you swap places with Fred and that way, I can have my girlfriend back."

Rose laughed. "Gosh, you're ever so bossy, aren't you?" But she did obediently pull herself into a sitting position, forcing Tee to sit up too.

"Not to mention I'm starting to think he's some kind of voyeur," added Fred lightly, getting to his feet and swapping places with Rose on the sofa like his twin had suggested. He brought the two discarded cushions with him. "You shouldn't be the one to keep suggesting these things."

"Well, someone has to." George winked at them, making Tee cringe. So he really didn't believe them. "But you're right. Come on, Rose, let's give them some privacy." He got up too.

Rose shook her head, knowing her boyfriend too well, but she still went along with it. "Alright. We'll see you guys later."

"Make sure you don't have _too_ much fun," George added.

"Just go!" scowled Tee, leaning across Fred to throw one of the cushions at his brother this time. It still missed and George just followed Rose out through the portrait hole, laughing.

"I know he was talking about giving us privacy, but there's no need to actually throw yourself at me," Fred teased, his eyes glittering with amusement at how close she suddenly was to him.

Tee felt her face colour slightly. "Sorry, but could he have been more obvious?"

She made to pull back, but Fred put his arm around her and stopped her. "He's just trying to wind us up. But..." He grinned. "He does make a very good point."

Tee flushed even more at the suggestion. The common room was now empty besides them. Great. Here they went again... You'd have thought she'd be thrilled at the prospect of kissing him - particularly since he was the one who was suggesting it - but it wasn't quite that simple.

Going with the relationship conventions that they seemed to have been following, they'd already tried kissing multiple times over the last few weeks. 'For fun', as Fred had so eloquently put it. But there was a lot of emphasis on the word _tried_. So far, all they'd managed was the briefest brush of the lips before something had interrupted them. And it wasn't like it was anyone else who was interrupting them either.

The first time they'd found themselves alone, Tee had panicked and burst into a fit of nervous giggling every time they'd tried anything. It had been ridiculous. There hadn't been anything funny about it, but her nerves had decided to present themselves in the form of uncontrollable giggles. Thankfully, Fred had just found it amusing.

The next time they'd been cosying up in the common room, Fred had suddenly gotten cramp in his leg and had to pace around the sofa in order to walk it off. By the time it had worked, everyone else had been turning up because they'd had to go to their late-night Astronomy lesson.

Then there'd been the time that Tee had gotten random, embarrassing gurgling noises in the back of her throat. Fred had actually found that one hilarious and had made several comments about how she wasn't to burp in his face. Tee had been mortified.

The day after that, Tee had decided that she'd just been over thinking things too much and that she needed to try and make it more spontaneous. But when she did try to make a more sudden move, they ended up accidentally banging heads instead. It wasn't just a little tap either - the impact had been enough to make Tee feel ill for the rest of the day. It turned out that Fred had a really hard head.

She wasn't sure if it was just all due to nerves or if they were somehow subconsciously sabotaging themselves. It wasn't _that_ difficult for people to kiss. They'd certainly managed it easily enough themselves at the pool party without any second thoughts. Though alcohol had played more of a role on that occasion. Well... it had on Fred's part anyway.

And now they were trying again. Tee felt her heart rate increase in anticipation, like it usually did. Fred seemed much more at ease than her and, of course, simply amused by the whole thing. Like always. And those amused brown eyes were fixed on her.

"I'm guessing from your silence that you're either considering it in a very serious manner or you're planning an escape route."

"Funny," said Tee, though she didn't sound even half as sarcastic as usual.

"Oh yeah?" Fred smiled teasingly. "Then prove me wrong."

It was kinda hard to resist an invitation like that. Tee leant in towards him, feeling that distinct drumming of her heart even more. Their lips were only an inch apart when she felt a strange sensation in her throat. Oh great, please say she wasn't going to get those stupid gargling noises again..

But then her breath caught, the sudden hitch enough to jog her shoulders. Oh _great_. She pulled back abruptly. Fred looked surprised. "What's up?"

"...I think I've got hiccups," said Tee uncertainly, waiting to see if the involuntary spasm happened again. They sat looking at each other for a few moments. Tee couldn't help but think about how absurd it was. Did situations like this happen to other people too?

Fred suddenly chuckled. "So are we supposed to just wait here and see if you hiccup again?"

"I only wanted to check they'd gone," Tee protested, rubbing the base of her throat. "I think they have... It must have just been a one-off thing."

"Anyone would think you're coming up with any excuse you can just to get out of kissing me," Fred teased.

He said it in jest, but it was enough to make Tee stop and think. The truth was that she really did want to kiss him. But stupid things kept getting in the way. It really wasn't supposed to be that hard! Other couples didn't have problems like that. But then other couples generally started relationships under their own terms, not just at the suggestion of their friends.

That was the problem. That was why everything felt too forced. That was why nobody but her seemed to be taking the idea seriously. Because it hadn't even started like a real relationship, had it? She desperately _wanted_ it to be real. But she was the only one who thought that. Just like she'd dreaded from the start.

They couldn't continue along a false relationship like this. If they did, then it was bound to end badly. And then it would be difficult for them to go back to how things used to be - back to their easy friendship. Tee actually couldn't bear the thought of that. Not to mention it would cause a serious rift in their friendship group.

She pulled back properly this time, away from Fred and clambering off the sofa. "Sorry Fred, I just... I just can't do this."

She'd never seen him look so taken aback before. "...What?"

Tee just shook her head, afraid that she was going to have a sudden emotional outburst. "I'm sorry," she repeated and then hurried out of the room before he could respond, scrambling through the portrait hole as quickly as she could.

She'd done it now. Fred would be able to put two and two together now that she'd had an emotional breakdown over the whole thing. She probably wouldn't even be able to look at him now without dying of embarrassment.

Tee bit her lip as she hurried down the stairs, trying to tell herself that she'd made the right decision. It would have been worse if she'd left it longer. All the stupid little interruptions every time they'd tried to kiss were proof of that - foreboding signs that she'd never get what she wanted. He didn't want her back. He just found the whole thing entertaining. God, she'd been so stupid thinking she could try and take advantage of a situation like that without any consequences.

Not paying attention to where she was going, she reached the next staircase and her stomach suddenly lurched as she stepped forward. It was one of the magic staircases that changed position, but she hadn't waited for it to come back round. It wasn't there - there was nothing beneath her foot but the empty space that she was falling into...

Somebody seized her arm and roughly pulled her back up onto the landing between the two staircases. "What the hell are you doing?" Fred scolded, turning her round to face him. "You _know_ that staircase isn't always there. Did you even look?"

Tee's heart was hammering in her chest. She could barely even process what had just happened. There was a sick feeling in her stomach that she suspected had less to do with the near fall and more to do with the inevitable talk that they were going to have to have. What choice did she have now? Saying 'sorry' and running off clearly wasn't enough. Why else would Fred have run after her?

Feeling overcome and almost on the verge of tears, Tee suddenly threw herself at him and buried her face in his robes. She felt him stiffen in surprise. "I'm sorry, okay? But I mean it - I just don't think I can do this! It just feels like there's too much pressure!"

Fred tentatively put his arms around her. "By this you mean _us_ , right?" he said in an odd voice.

Tee almost had the bizarre urge to laugh. "Is there really even an _us_ here? We can't even kiss without me getting hiccups or you getting cramp or the two of us banging heads. It just feels like we're following a rulebook and nothing's going right. I wanna do things under my own terms, not Rose and George's."

She hadn't meant to say that last part. But thankfully, Fred didn't seem to have noticed. He half chuckled, half sighed. His voice still sounded strange. "Yeah, you're not the only one who's felt like there's been pressure to do things right. I guess it was a lot easier when you were drunk at the pool party, huh?"

_Huh_? Tee pulled back abruptly, causing him to drop his arms from around her. She frowned at him. "I wasn't drunk then. _You_ were the one who was drunk."

Fred looked bemused. "No, I wasn't. I thought you were."

Tee hesitated, confused. She'd always just thought that Fred had had one too many. And as for her... Well, what _had_ she been doing? She hadn't realised that she liked Fred back then, yet she'd still thought nothing of what had happened at the party. But then did friends really just kiss without a reason?

"So... if neither of us were drunk that night," Tee said slowly. "Then what were we actually doing?"

Fred suddenly laughed, though softer than he usually did. "Well, I don't know about you, Kittykat, but I was kinda taking advantage of the opportunity. And I guess since we're on the subject, I _may_ have done the same thing with the whole dating idea too."

"Huh?" was Tee's very unintelligent-sounding response. What was he talking about? _She_ was the one who'd been taking advantage of the situation. It felt like the conversation was going around in some odd circle.

Fred shook his head, seeing the totally blank look on her face. "You're actually going to make me spell it out for you, aren't you?"

"Um, yes please?" said Tee, still feeling lost.

Fred sighed, suddenly looking uncharacteristically awkward. He shifted uncomfortably. "Look, I guess I just got a bit jealous over that seventh-year guy... I mean, you wrote to your friend about him. And you were even dancing with him at the ball."

Tee stared at him. Her heart was suddenly pounding. Was he really trying to tell her what she thought he was? Surely he couldn't be - she had to be imagining it.

Fred laughed nervously at the look on her face. "You didn't even realise I kept trying to flirt with you more, did you? I just kinda hoped I could take your attention away from any other guys."

"I don't even like Sam," Tee blurted out. She almost felt like laughing. She couldn't believe how completely wrong he'd gotten things.

Fred looked surprised. "Err, you don't?"

Tee shook her head slowly. Her heart was still thumping and she still wasn't sure she could believe what she was hearing, but she felt that - after what he'd just told her - what _she_ had to say was suddenly going to be a lot easier. "Actually, I was just dancing with anyone I could, because I was, um... scared to dance with you."

Fred frowned, looking confused. "Why would you be scared to dance with me?"

Had he honestly not picked up on _anything_? Tee actually did laugh then, even though her stomach still felt all knotted. "You really had no idea, did you?"

"About what?" asked Fred uncertainly.

Tee took a deep breath. The phrase 'now or never' had never sounded quite so appropriate. If she ran away from it now, then she had serious issues. "Okay. So on New Year's Eve I, um, started to realise that I... I actually really like you. In a wanna-be-more-than-friends kinda way. And... I don't know, it just freaked me out a bit. I didn't know how to act about it; it was embarrassing. Then it felt awkward being around you at times and you _never_ made it easy..."

She trailed off as she realised that Fred was staring at her in astonishment. Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, that clearly wasn't it. "...What?"

"I'm not saying it all again!" Tee protested. Wasn't he listening?

Fred started laughing then, his expression falling back into his usual, easy grin. "Wow, it took you _that_ long to realise?" he joked. "Were you wearing blinders the first few months? Because I think my general attractiveness is pretty easy to notice."

Tee rolled her eyes, but she couldn't keep herself from smiling nervously. "Bighead."

Though when she thought about it, she couldn't help but agree that he may have had a point. Maybe the ball _hadn't_ been the first time she'd realised. She'd already been questioning their reasons for kissing at the pool party. And the more she thought about it, the more she could recall millions of other warning signs up until then... Not to mention there'd been the whole thing with the Amortentia too.

"Actually..." she added slowly. "I think maybe I knew all along."

Fred suddenly beamed. "I should think so too," he said teasingly, putting both hands on either side of her face. "Because I've liked you literally from day one - that first day on the train."

Tee's heart continued to flip flop, though much more pleasantly this time. She couldn't seem to chase the silly smile off her face. "Wow. Someone's a fast mover then."

Fred grinned. "Come on, it was that exhaust pipe comment that did it for me. That was hilarious! Why else do you think I got George to help me gatecrash when I saw you sitting in that carriage by yourself?"

Tee laughed, remembering it very well. The said smoker had actually turned out to be a Slytherin sixth-year - go figure - but maybe she'd still have to thank him for it. "Okay, maybe you're not such a faster mover then. Rose and George _way_ overtook us."

"Hey, you can't rush something good," Fred smiled. "And I knew it would be as soon as I realised that you really _could_ tell me and George apart. Nobody can ever do that. Even Mom still gets confused. But you never even seemed to see us as twins - you saw us as individuals... I still don't think you realise what a big deal that is."

"In that case, I'm glad I have that random talent in my skill set," Tee replied, lightly but truthfully. She was actually rather touched. He was right - she hadn't realised quite how important it was. So she sincerely meant what she said.

Fred smoothed the longer side of her hair back from her face, more serious now. "Seriously, Tee, how did you never realise any of this? Even when we agreed to try dating, you still didn't seem like you were very comfortable about it. You seemed to lose all your confidence."

"Actually, that confidence is pretty much just an act," Tee confessed, putting her hands over his. "I don't have _any_ when it comes down to the people who really matter. That's why I kinda started freaking out around you... I just thought you were going along with the dating idea to humour the others. I wanted it to be real, but I felt like I was the only one. You just seemed to think it was all for fun."

Fred half laughed, half sighed. "Come on, Kittykat... You should know by now that I _always_ treat things that way. Call it _my_ version of confidence. You think I'm really that flirty with anyone else? Why do you think George kept trying to give us nudges in the right direction? I told him we were just friends, but he caught on a while ago how much I really liked you. He wanted me to stop making a meal out of things and actually make a real move."

Tee tried to take all of this in, cursing her own stupidity. If only they'd talked about this sooner, then she could have saved herself a great deal of stress. "I thought that he just thought we were faking and was trying to catch us out. You have no idea how much I wanted you to want me back... Who'd have thought you actually did all along."

Fred shook his head. "You're such an idiot. How you can have ever thought any different, I'll never know..."

Tee laughed nervously. "Well, believe it or not, most guys would never want a girl like me. Not as anything more than a friend anyway."

Fred frowned. "What do you mean, a girl like you?"

"Well, I know I come across as a bit weird. And I'm not really pretty or noticeable or anything like that..."

Fred raised his eyebrows and cut across her. "If I kiss you now, will you stop being crazy and putting yourself down?"

"What do you think I've been waiting for this whole time?"

Tee barely had time to finish her sentence as Fred's lips suddenly crashed down onto hers. She kissed him back just as fiercely, winding her arms around his neck and twisting her fingers into his long hair. His hands slid down and around her waist, pulling her closer, moulding her body against his.

There weren't any interruptions this time. With everything out in the open, any awkwardness had completely dissolved. _This_ was the exact spontaneity - the easy way of being around each other - that Tee had wanted. She wasn't scared anymore. The butterflies in her stomach were nothing to do with nerves and all to do with passion.

It just felt _right_. That was the best way to describe it.

When they eventually broke apart - at least a good few minutes later - Fred grinned and murmured, "You do realise this time's for real, right? I'm not just humouring George or Rose or anyone else."

Tee smiled. She felt so happy right now that she almost felt like dancing. "It doesn't hurt to hear you say it."

They then heard a noise from behind them that sounded bizarrely like a sob. They both turned around, bewildered, to see two old witches sat in one of the portraits on the wall, watching the scene before them. One of them was beaming a wide toothy grin and the other was dabbing the corner of her eye with a lacy handkerchief.

"Young love... It still gets me," said the second witch fondly.

Tee promptly started giggling and turned her face away, into Fred's chest, feeling a little embarrassed. Well, at least this interruption was from a third party and not just self-sabotage. Fred simply laughed before suggesting quietly, "How about we go somewhere where we don't have an audience?"

"Good idea," agreed Tee, trying to compose herself. "Where to?"

"Well, I'm not sure where Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum will have gotten to," said Fred thoughtfully. "We could go back up to the common room and hope it's still empty?"

Tee then had a different idea. One that felt more appropriate. "Or we could go to the clock tower?"

Fred's face split into a grin. "Now that's my girl. Why didn't I think of that?"

XXX

"I don't think your unsubtle approach is really working," Rose had pointed out as she and George had headed out onto the grounds. "Tee gives you death glares every time you try pushing them into an intimate situation."

After giving Tee and Fred the initial nudge in the right direction and then checking that her best friend wasn't mad at her for it, Rose had decided not to interfere any further. Even though she was sure that they still weren't taking it seriously. She didn't want to dictate somebody else's relationship - let alone that of her two closest friends. George didn't quite feel the same though.

"She'll thank me for it in the end," he'd insisted with a grin. "Just you watch. It'll work out sooner or later."

Rose was actually the one who had spurred him into taking things into his own hands. He'd known from the start that Fred had had a crush on Tee - why else would he have wanted to jump in on her and Rose's carriage on the train? But when George had questioned his brother about her again after the pool party, he'd suddenly changed his tune. George had never really believed him, of course, but had chosen to leave him to it.

But now, after the last several weeks, Rose had started putting more and more twos together as well. Even more flirtatious behaviour from Fred, occasional edgy responses from Tee over suggestive comments or physical contact... Tee may not have told her anything about it - and Rose knew that her friend would have her own reasons for it - but it was written all over her. Rose knew her well enough to know that she always chickened out of pursuing guys that she _really_ liked, so she'd decided to take the shot herself and push her into it.

And when they'd still continued to dance around each other - even after they'd agreed to actually try dating - George had decided to keep pushing them further. Rose didn't know if she approved of his increasingly obvious interventions, but George seemed very sure of his technique. And in his words, Fred just needed to 'man up'.

Rose and George completed a few laps of the entire grounds before conceding it was time to go back up to the common room. Rose loved walking, but it was starting to get chilly. She'd been bundled up inside George's robes with him, like she'd done on Valentine's Day to shelter from the rain, but it really wasn't ideal for movement.

When they got back up to the common room, it was still fairly quiet. No doubt most of the Gryffindors were still using the free time to try and study for exams. Clearly not Tee and Fred though. They were currently entwined with each other on the sofa by the fire.

Though Tee quickly disentangled herself and sat up when she spotted Rose and George. "Oh, hey! We wondered where you'd got to!"

"Err, we were just out walking round the grounds," said Rose, a little taken aback. She'd never seen them quite that cosy before. Had George's unsubtle approach actually worked, like he'd said it would?

He clearly thought it had, because he looked amused. "Hmm, something seems different from when we left."

Fred sat up as well and grinned. "Well, Tee happened to have a life-changing experience during that time."

Tee elbowed him in the chest. "Yeah, don't kid yourself." She was still smiling though.

Rose looked from Tee to Fred. Yeah, there was definitely something different. Fred certainly seemed to be implying so too. Now it was time for the girl talk she'd secretly been dying for since this whole thing had started. "Hey Tee, you know your History of Magic revision? Do you mind if I have a look at your notes? I can't find mine on the goblin rebellion."

"Oh... Sure," said Tee, completely oblivious. She got up. "Come on, I'll show you where they are."

"Don't rush yourself," George cut in before Fred could say anything, jumping onto the sofa next to his twin. "I'm sure we can find something to talk about."

This was actually perfect, Tee thought to herself as she and Rose went up to their dorm. She could give Rose her notes and then she could finally talk everything through with her. Nothing was going to be a secret anymore. She didn't feel embarrassed about it now that everything was out in the open with Fred.

And the first person she wanted to tell everything to was obviously going to be her best friend. She definitely owed it to her, especially with the weird way she'd been acting ever since the ball. Not to mention that, now that she thought about it, she was actually dying for a good girly chat.

She found out her notes and passed them to Rose. Best to get that part out of the way before she forgot. "Here. The goblin stuff's near the back." She only remembered because she'd been desperately trying to force feed her brain the same information earlier.

Rose took the sheaf of parchment from her, looking somewhat amused. "You do realise I don't _really_ want your notes, don't you?"

Tee felt confused. "Then why did you..." She stopped when she realised that Rose was smiling at her. Then everything clicked and she started laughing. How could she have thought that her best friend wouldn't have realised straightaway? She had walked in on her and Fred in quite a compromising position after all. "Aw man, you ruined my big reveal," she joked. "I would have liked to have made it an official announcement."

Rose laughed too. "Trust me; you guys have probably _never_ needed to make an official announcement."

Tee shook her head. So everyone else really had known. Apart from her and Fred anyway. God, they really were stupid. How had they been the last ones to realise?

"I've gotta know though," Rose continued curiously. "How long have you actually liked him for?"

"Well, I kinda realised on New Year's Eve... But I think it was actually a lot longer than that," Tee admitted.

"That's why you started acting so weird, isn't it?" Rose realised. "Have you been worrying about it this whole time?" Tee nodded, looking sheepish. "Oh, Tee, I wish you'd just told me!"

"I'm sorry," Tee apologised, perching on the foot of her bed. "But I was embarrassed enough about the whole thing as it was. I was worried if I told anyone, that people would be watching my every move around him. I never thought in a million years that he liked me too - I didn't think anything would ever happen, so I wanted to just keep it to myself."

Rose shook her head as she sat down beside her. She didn't actually mind that Tee hadn't told her before now - after all, she hadn't told her about George for quite a while. She was more concerned about the fact that she could have saved her friend a lot of worry. "If only you'd said something, then I could have just told you to go for it! If even _I_ could tell that Fred liked you, then it must have been obvious! How could you not have realised?"

Tee couldn't help but laugh at that. It was true - Rose was generally even more clueless about these kind of things than she was. "Okay, people need to stop pointing out how stupid I am."

Rose giggled. "But it's kinda true."

"Hey, don't be mean." Tee nudged her with her shoulder. "So when did you figure everything out, Miss Smarty-Pants?"

"Probably about a month ago for definite," said Rose. "When I spoke to George about it, he said he'd known for quite a while. We agreed you probably weren't ever going to do anything about it yourselves, so that's why we decided to try and help."

"It comes to something when your friends have to fix your love life for you."

Rose giggled again. "I'm sorry, but the looks on your faces when we suggested you should date really were priceless!"

Tee smiled. "You don't have to apologise. It clearly helped in the end."

"You still weren't happy though, even after you both agreed to it," said Rose, making it more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, I know," Tee admitted. "But I thought Fred was only up for it just to humour you guys. I felt like I was the only one taking it seriously and it made things feel kinda awkward."

"Oh, Tee," said Rose reproachfully, wishing she'd had more of an idea of how insecure her friend had been feeling. If she'd known _that_ , then she definitely would have intervened further. "You really are an idiot."

"Okay, okay, we've been over that part already," Tee protested, though she was smiling.

Rose laughed. "So you know the day after the pool party when you said there wasn't anything going on between you and Fred? Was that completely true?"

"Well, I _thought_ it was," said Tee, still a little confused on that one herself. She'd always just thought it was nothing - just for fun, as Fred would have put it - but after today, she'd realised that maybe it hadn't been after all. "I meant what I said back then at least. I hadn't clocked on about anything at that point. And you know me. The idea of anything serious tends to send me running in the opposite direction."

It was true that Tee was a bit of a commitment-phobe. But still... "Not this time though," Rose pointed out.

"No. Not this time," Tee agreed, smiling again.

"Aww, I feel like you're growing up," Rose teased, putting her arm around Tee's shoulders and giving her a playful shake.

"I know. Scary, isn't it?" Tee grinned.

"Terrifying," joked Rose. She gave her friend a fond look. "You're really happy though, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Tee's smile grew, her face suddenly glowing. "Yeah, I really am."

Rose beamed back. "I'm glad," she said, leaning her head against Tee's shoulder. She still had the History of Magic notes on her lap, clutched in her other hand. Her gaze drifted down towards them as something caught her eye. "Erm, actually I'm _really_ glad you're feeling happy right now..."

Tee raised her eyebrows, feeling that they were talking about something completely different all of a sudden. "Why's that?"

"Because I think you, err, might fail your History of Magic exam. I don't know what you were thinking about when you wrote these notes, but the goblin rebellion definitely wasn't led by Gandalf the Grey."

"Aww, damn."


End file.
